87
TK HEADLINE
A KINDER, GENTLER LEASH
The Evado Filip VIVOplay
is a wristwatch/phone/
tracking device that will
notify you when your
kids leave their safety
z
thereby signifi-
cantly reducing the amount
of time yo spend away from y
by the pool.
Not yet
evadofilip.com
KIDS, COVER YOUR EARS
While Junior music choices may
leave something to be desir
the sound control on these
KidzControl Volume Limit
headphones protects tiny
ear
so hearing loss
will be one thing you w
need to worry about.
$2 gearforkidz.com
SIT. STAY.
Face a good part of your vacation
will be spent immobilizing the kids.
For the
yo need a BubbleBum
inflatable car seat
while the
My Little Seat travel high chair ($30
shown
)
promises to keep the restau-
rant toppling to a
minimum. You can
also pick up quality
cotton rope for as
little as 50 cents a
yar but we
recommend that.
NEXT-GENERATION
GEAR
A KINDER, GENTLER LEASH
The Evado Filip VivoPlay is a wrist-
watch/phone/tracking
device that will notify you
when your child leaves
his safety zone—thereby
significantly reducing the
time you’ll spend away
from yours, by the pool.
Not yet priced, evadofilip.com
KIDS, COVER YOUR EARS
While Junior’s music choices may
l ave something to b d sired,
the sound c ntrol on these
KidzGear headphones protects
tiny eardrums, so hearing loss
will be one thing you
don’t have to worry about.
$20, gearforkidz.com
SIT. STAY.
Face it, a good part of your vacation
will be spent immobilizing the kids.
For the taxi there’s the BubbleBum
inflatable car seat ($40), while the
My Little Seat travel chair (from $25,
shown) keeps
restaurant toppling
to a minimum. You
can also pick up cot-
ton rope for as little
as 50 cents a yard, but
we don’t recommend
that.
amazon.com
Peace in Our Time
Eventually you have to ditch
the parenting books, and
the tykes along with them
My younger brother and I used to
fight all the time. We fought hard. We
fought dirty. There was scratching,
biting, punching, kick-
ing, tattling. And
that was before
we were put in a car together.
When I was about 9, we were on a
road trip out West and our parents
had had it up to
here
with our bicker-
ing and boxing. So they kicked us out
of the car. Just like that—spit us out
on the side of a dirt road like flavor-
less pieces of gum, with nothing but a
shrub or two for shelter.
As our parents vanished over the
horizon, we started hatching survival
plans. My brother peed “SOS” in
the dust. We gathered firewood. We
dreamed up travels around the world
together as orphans; maybe we’d start
a circus.
Eventually our parents came back,
and we resumed our journey in rela-
tive peace. Something important had
been accomplished here, though at
the time we weren’t quite sure what it
was.
—
SOPHIE-CLAIRE HOELLER
THE INCREDIBLE SULK
Sometimes, youngsters can be at their worst when they’re
not
being little Neanderthals
We were taking a family road trip through California—I must
have been 10 or 11 at the time—and my dad told me a special
surprise lay ahead. The next day, we arrived in San Luis Obispo
and headed for Madonna Inn, a quirky old hotel in which every
room is designed according to a theme. Dad
had booked my sister and me into “The
Caveman.” That was the surprise.
In hindsight, the roomwas pretty awe-
some. The shower was a waterfall inside a
mini cave. The ceilingwasmade of fake rocks.
The only thing missing was dinosaurs. But I
refused to be impressed; instead, I threw a
screaming, stomping fit themoment I entered.
The problem was, I’d interpreted
my dad’s “special surprise” as a
promise that we would be meet-
ingmy hero, HulkHogan. He hadn’t
suggested anything of the sort, of course, but that didn’t make
the disappointment any easier to bear. That night I fell asleep
tomy Game Boy playing a loop of the Hulk Hogan theme song.
Sorry, Dad.
—
JASON FEIFER
