So this is the year that you are going to take a thousand mile road trip. It would be fun and enjoyable with just your spouse, but now your family includes others. Those others include a preteen ten year old that is already developing a teen attitude. Also included is an over energetic eight year old son that thinks his purpose in life is to tease both of his sisters. Last of all there is that sweet four year old ball of fire that has determined that she is in charge.

On the top of your list of challenges is the item to make this trip and be sane when your return home. Everything will be fine getting things ready and even after you arrive at your destination. It is those hours in between that have you worried.

Back when you were a little kid your parents had to grin and bear it. They played games to keep you entertained and searched license plates for a new state. At the end of the trip they were too tired to enjoy their stay. They just rested up for the return trip and a rerun of the previous trip, arriving home exhausted. What a vacation?

This will not happen to you if you are willing to take advantage of the new car video technology. With the introduction of car videos children can enjoy the trip with some of their favorite videos. There are several types available on the market now. There are the standard mount to the ceiling models. Now there are hang over the seat models with ear phones so that each child can have their own if necessary and these are moveable from seat to seat. Also, available are head rests with video screens built in them that can replace your present head rests. Now there are even car videos to put on sun visors or on the dash.

With this car video technology you can now take your children's favorite videos and let them play them over and over and it will not drive you crazy because they have ear buds. This means that you can still carry on a conversation with someone and not always be interrupted with the inevitable ?Are We There Yet?. By the way ipods and MP3 players will do the same for your teenager.

I can attest to the above because I just got off a road trip of 16 hours with these three youngsters and four adults. There were very few problems and parents and grandparents were just tired from the ride not tired from fighting. I personally felt that the portable video was best because we could shift it between seats and then the unoccupied child did what we used to do play games.