Parents of small children everywhere lament the loss of “adult” conversation. Heck, just being able to say 3 words in a row without the disruption of whining, begging, neediness or general tattle-taling is often considered a gift from the Heavens.
Unless your nearby family-friendly restaurants have giant- screen TVs playing Go, Diego, Go! in a loop, chances are that dining out – which was likely an enjoyable activity in the LBK (Life Before Kids) portion of your marriage – has now fallen below activities like “root canal” and “bikini wax” on your list of Most Desirable Ways to Spend my Time.
About 6 months ago, I had a revelation. One that revolutionized our family dinners out and is probably the most viable solution for parents unless and until Apple creates apps like Kiddie Muting or The Pediatric Pause Button.
Enter: The Nintendo DS.
Hand one of these rectangular boxes of blissful magic to each child and – voila! – you can now enjoy the company of your spouse and non-fragmented grown-up conversations while waiting for someone else to prepare and serve you a meal.
Because that, moms and dads, is the definition of perfection.
See, Moms who are a good few years ahead of you should impart this wealth of knowledge we have acquired over the years …
DS’ provide all sorts of bargaining power too.
You should start a “veteran mom” blog! It would be an instant hit!
I do miss adult conversation. Perhaps it is time to invest in some electronic distraction
That is great for older kids but what do I do with my 2 year old little boy?
I tried letting him watch Micky Mouse on my iPhone and then the worst thing in the world happened. He threw it. And it landed on the hard, cold floor at Kohl’s. And now…. the screen is shattered.
I can totally relate! That would be Roxy. Idk what would work as appropriate distraction for her. If we are out, she has to have someone’s undivided attention…
My sister-in-law recently upgraded her iPhone, which meant that she had an old iPhone, and now my toddlers share one . . . I can’t tell you the amount of peace & quiet we’ve received because of them.
If you could tell me that a DS would actually get my kids to eat what we think they’d like to eat while eating out . . . well, I’d buy one a week.
Ahhh…. be careful with toddlers and iPhones!! Mine now has a shattered screen because of one!
I couldn’t agree with you more! Now that Paige has one too sometimes we forget we have kids. Although having a Wii helps too. Before Dave’s surgery, after we put the kids to bed, we would break out Just Dance 3 and shake our booties. It was fun and a workout too.
Hee. My small child has his own tablet AND an old iPhone. He watches movies on one and plays games on the other and our only problem is making sure both are charged at all times!
You have much knowledge. I can learn a great deal from you, oh wise one!
Electronic devices are wonderful! My daughter has her DS and my son, a LeapPad. And yes, they definitely provide great bargaining power
At this point, setting that child in a high chair and giving him goldfish keeps him quiet for, like, 5 minutes at dinner. Going out is still do-able, but it’s getting tougher. I’ll bookmark this for later
That, and the iPad!!
We love bringing our ipad too!
Now that’s just good parenting! I say go for anything that restores sanity!
Eating out? What is that?
We actually had a very pleasant lunch on Saturday (with the kids, I should note) and it encouraged us. Light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe…
I 100% agree! A couple of DS’s and smart phones and the adults can have a fabulous dinner out.
We got Leap Pads for all of our kids, but we never thought to bring them to a restaurant. I’ll be doing that next time. Oh yes.
The iPad/iPhone works wonders, too. Each of my kids have an older, kind of beat up iPhone and they’re lifesavers.
And that is why my iPod is filled with silly apps like Toddler Tangrams.
Handy in restaurants, dr. offices and waiting in line at Wal-Mart.
My kids are totally getting into the electronics, all but my two year-old and we are counting the days until we can hand him something to keep him busy.
This move is total genius. We usually give each of the boys our iPhones (still have yet to buy iPads) and they go to town. My SIL does the DS trick and it works like a charm every single time. It’s nice to have an adult conversation once and a while, for sure.
Yes, this will quiet the kids, but how do I get my wife off her Kindle?
For us, it’s the Kindle Fire. My mom got one for Christmas and Lil’ Bit instantly monopolized it and learned to use it – she’s like a little 2YO dictator!
Now if only I had one of my own…
I need to start getting teaching my child how to use this stuff!
I haven’t said a full sentence in two years.
LOL You gotta do what you gotta do!
Isn’t technology amazing? This is how the iPad saved our marriage!
On a sidenote, at least you get to lie down during a bikini wax.
My daughter got one of those for Christmas–love the idea! We took the whole family out to eat over the weekend–it wasn’t pretty.
This little tidbit will come in very handy for many of my friends. Thanks for the insider info!
Am glad you are able to enjoy uninterrupted quality time with the hubs again.
So so smart. Yes, thank goodness for technology at times like that. My SIL used to put a little portable DVD play on the tray of the stroller when she was shopping at the mall. She could shop and her daughter just sat there as happy as can be
We only go to places that have electronic babysitters on hand… BW3′s with the game consoles, a local pizza place with the video screens in the booth. Such more enjoyable family time then!
I’d write this tip down for later, but I’m hoping by the time I have kids they’ll just have apple installed chips in their brain and can amuse themselves whenever they want.
(Fingers crossed.)
And here I thought you were going to say that your husband and you play Nintendo together just like my husband and I!
It is win win for both, and it relaxes the kids too.
Great idea, I love it.
(talking about the eating out part…YUM)
I *think* that LBK meme would be amazing – what did we *do* with all of that uninterrupted time?!
That? Is the truth!