I personally think it depends on the type of children your skids are. My ds's are chalk and cheese... DS2 is total action man, always on the go, happy to be outdoors "doing". DS1 is quiet, bookish, TVish, prefers to be indoors. He (and I) get very grumpy and moody if we can't have time at some point to quietly read/watch TV.

When we go away, I always try and find somewhere that has at least a TV & DVD player. (We never bring games consoles with us). When they were younger we found that watching a DVD before bed helped them all wind down after a busy day.

Sometimes my DH + his kids + DS2 will go out touring/sightseeing while DS1 and I stay behind and watch some TV or read by the pool. Or we might all go out on activities one day and have a quiet day the next.

It's a compromise so everyone gets what they want since we all have a different definition of a "vacation".

We went on vacation a month ago and made that rule.... it was kind of an "easy" rule because there was no wi-fi where we were going. Of course Skids said they'd stream it thru their smartphones but DH said no. It was probably one of the most enjoyable vacations (for me) that we've had in a long time! When we wanted to go somewhere, we didn't have to pry kids away from computers, and it seemed they were more open to wanting to go on little jaunts. Books were OK to go, Ipods were OK to go, but nothing else.

I figured my DH would also cave in but he didn't. He even made the comment about how nice it was!

It's so funny you posted this today. During a much-enjoyed long conversation with my beautiful mother last night, we got to talking about the family vacays we took every summer to Idaho to see my grandparents.

11 of us (9 kids) drove 24 hours across 4 states in a station wagon. Of course, mom & dad in the front seat, & the kids fought over who had to sit in the middle seat/floorboard & who got to sit in the very back seat, facing out the back window.

I confessed the misery I recall dreading on those looooong car rides. As I expressed my loathing & suffering, she stopped me & said, "Storm, have you ever considered how I felt on those trips? Yeah, I got to sit in the front seat by the air conditioner, but as I handed out snacks, prepared lunches on the go, & did everything I could to make everybody happy, do you guess that even ONE time any one of my children ever said, "Mom, I appreciate what you do for me" or "Mom, you look really pretty today" or "Mom, is there anything I can do to make this trip enjoyable for you?" She said, "Now I'm not saying that none of you spoke to me. I can't tell you how much I dreaded hearing "Moooooooommmmmm..." because it was always followed by "he's touchng me" or "She's looking at me" or "He's breathing on me". She asked if I had any recollection of the dose of "pink kool-aid" she'd give each of us before we hit the road. I don't. It was Benadryl. She got permission from our pediatrician to dose anyone who needed it at the start of the day when we traveled. LOL!

She wasn't resentful as she expressed her feelings, but I felt selfish for only ever focusing on how miserable those drives were for us as children, being cramped in a vehicle having to take turns sitting in the floorboard, & even as an adult I never considered what it had to have been like for her.

Anyway, in reply to the blog, I thought about it more this morning & was comparing our vacations to those that kids experience today. We didn't have cell phones, Gameboys, Nintendo DS, Ipods, etc to travel with. The highlight of our travels was getting our turn next to the window so when we passed the tractor trailers we could throw our arms out motion for them to honk their horns.

As adults, we take vacations to get away from our every-day lives. We need a break from the day-in-day-out things. I think it's the same for kids. Vacations are supposed to be special. What can be special for them if they're hauling their everday lives around with them?

I don't think anyone would argue that kids need video games, etc on vacation. It should be time to interact & communicate with our family members & experience things you don't experience every day at home. The same as it's healthy & refreshing for adults to take a "break" from the norm, it's healthy & refreshing for kids too. There will plenty of things to see & do that will be different for them. Maybe you can express that to your DH. How will they be able to appreciate these things if they aren't willing to break away from the TV? Not to mention, they'll likely have more memories of a trip that involves new & different activities & things to see than a trip where they play the same video games as any other day of the year. It will stand out for them & give them something to share with their friends.