The TomTom company has just published a report, which I have found only by references, in which it interviews 4,113 mothers of children between 2 and 8 years old and asks them that how long does it cost them to get bored for a typical five-hour trip. They have done it in several countries, and so in Australia it costs them 26 minutes, in England 24 and in Spain 25. Those who endure the most are those in New Zealand, although they only reach 34, the Germans with 31 or the French with 30.
So the news is that children get bored on average about 27 minutes on a five-hour trip. It is not a bad discovery although many parents are aware of it and we know that as soon as we leave the city and the last traffic light the question that comes to us from the back is: when we arrived? The survey clearly asked how long they got bored if there was no entertainment for the kids in the car.
So once the diagnosis is known, what can we do to take it as well as possible?
A father told me the other day that he was very proud because on a five-hour trip his nine-year-old son had not asked him even once, Dad, when did we arrive? I do not know if they were going lively, if they were playing, the most typical is the see-see, or if the child was asleep. In my opinion the dream is the best friend of the drivers who travel with children although he is the worst enemy for him. To the monotony of the trip, the rattle of the car, the constant noise and the warmth of the back joins the boredom of the child who ends up casting a little dream and giving the driver room to go further. The study indicates that mothers invent resources to keep children entertained: 74% invent games, 52% offer rewards and 24% lie about the time of arrival.
And, while the child is not aware of time, we all know to apply that rule that in 10 minutes we arrive means that there is still half an hour left. More or less.
TomTom's study goes beyond the boredom of children and apparently the mothers who respond, 41% think that being in the car with children is much more stressful than being in the office and 36% responded that sometimes Discuss with your partner during the trip. These questions seem to me worthy of reflection because a trip with children does not have to be stressful, and less in a car that you play life. And about the discussion with the couple, well beyond that if we put the air conditioning or not or where we stop it does not seem to me to be the place to start arguing.
In my case, although I am not a mother I think I can tell the experience, we tried to plan the trip beforehand and look for elements so that the child is entertained. Sleep is the best remedy and as soon as you wake up we usually resort to games, make a stop or leave a game. That is the same as our parents who did not go with so much technology and support devices in the car and arrived at their destination safe and sound.
