One of the most annoying aspects of being a parent is trying to create fun family memories.. only to have your kids bitch & moan throughout the event you’ve painstakingly orchestrated.
When it comes to family outings, you’re only as happy as your least happy kid.
If you’ve got older children, then you’ve likely experienced how much of a drag it can be to “force” a bored, uncooperative kid to enjoy a day out with the family.
Case In Point: My husband loves hikes. We did a family hike last year. And that’s the last time we’ll ever do a family hike again. While half of our kids loved the experience, the other half (teens, you know I’m talking about YOU) weren’t having it.
So the theme of our family outing became: Let’s take a nature walk so the teens can complain that nature has no wifi.
One couple’s response to their kids not wanting to go a on “boring” family trip was to leave them home… and to take the household Wifi modem out for a day of fun instead.
Parents Chris and Cassie Langan wanted to plan a family fun day by taking their three kids on a trip to Warrnambool.
According to Cassie’s Facebook post, their idea was met with a typical kid response:
‘that’s so boring, I don’t want to go’.
Chris and Cassie decided that the worst thing they could do was drag unwilling kids along on a day trip, so… they didn’t.
Instead, they made a decision that resulted in a far more fun -and hilarious- vacation for themselves:
we let the ones who didn’t want to go stay home and took our most over worked family member for a well deserved day out….. our modem.
The modem truly is the unsung hero in most homes. It works ceaselessly, and no one seems to appreciate it until it attempts to take a break (sort of like moms, really).
But when a modem stops, all hell breaks loose. Teens that haven’t been seen in hours suddenly emerge from random corners of your home like rats, demanding to know,
“What’s going on with the Wifi????”
I’m inspired that one family decided to finally give their hardworking modem it’s due: a day out!
Chris and Cassie not only rewarded their modem for its hard work & constant devotion, but also left the kids that didn’t want to go home… without wifi. #sorrynotsorry
Only one of their children, Evan, decided to join them on their outing.
But maybe it was for the better; at least there was no arguing over seats between Evan and the modem.
They say that getting there is half the fun, but I’m thinking the other half of the fun is the reality that there were some very grumpy, non-wifi-using kids back home instead of in the backseat.
Perfect day for the beach; after all of that hard work, a modem could use some downtime in the sun…
And a stop at the playground, of course. Work hard, PLAY HARD.
All of that sun makes a modem hungry, so naturally lunch was in order:
The only downside to the day: apparently the seagulls thought the MODEM was lunch. Close call: “MINE! MINE! MINE!”
And it wouldn’t be a family fun day out without stopping at… the fair!!!
Modem even won a prize at one of the carnival booths- quite a speedy little thing!
The outing concluded with a stroll down the boardwalk.
You can see the beautiful calm of this moment. Imagine listening to the water lapping peacefully against the wood of the dock… without a single complaint of:
“I’m bored.” “Can we go now??” “Ugh, when are we leaving?” “I can’t get wifi here!”
And after a splendid outing, even the ride home was a mellow, happy event, because again, no whining.
Hear that? It’s the blissful sound of silence, because no kids are complaining.
As Cassie describes, the day turned out to be one of sheer bliss:
Modem had a fantastic day not being used by the kids and it was lovely not to listen to constant bickering.
Of course, such a wonderful day deserved an equally wonderful ending, as modem enjoy its fair winnings and a nice cold beer. What a day, indeed!
So the hardest working member of the house got a wonderful day of fun, and the Langans managed to avoid listening to their unhappy kids bitch about being bored on a trip with no wifi…. while letting them get a taste of being bored without wifi at home.
GENIUS!
Clearly fellow parents support Cassie & Chris’ hilarious way to avoid forcing “family fun” on their kids, because the Facebook post has already earned 96K likes in a single day.
The idea of confiscating the modem is effective enough. But what raises Chris and Cassie to unlock another level of parenting fun is the fact they took the modem WITH them- and photographed it for posterity.
I bet the modem was appreciative enough to say thank you, too. Just saying…
We asked our kids if they would like to go on a day trip to Warrnambool today and were met with the response 'that's so…
Posted by Cassie Langan on Sunday, January 12, 2020