We drive a lot as a family.
Whether it’s the mad dash to school in the morning, the frequent road trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, or the countless treks to sports games and recitals, it feels like more and more of our time together is being spent within the confines of a car.
And here’s the thing about being in the car: I think everyone kind of thinks of it as ‘free time’ when you’re not supposed to really be doing anything.
… Which was fine when I was growing up, because “not doing anything” meant talking to one another.
But now, “not doing anything” means putting in your headphones, going on your screen of choice, and zoning out.
I decided enough was enough and started looking for some conversation starter cards we could use as a family.
I had never used conversation-starter cards before, but their basic premise (having better conversations and more quality time is made a lot easier when you have a bunch of engaging questions to answer together) made perfect sense to me.
After a thorough search, I landed on the Talking Point Cards Family Pack. Here’s why:
- The Family Pack was the only conversation-starter tool I found that had its questions written and reviewed by a team of experts
- The Family Pack is very portable for having 200 separate cards and seemed like the perfect thing to keep in the center console of my car
- The reviews for the Family Pack are flat-out amazing: 4.7 on Amazon and 4.8 on the TPC website, with a total of over 7,000 verified reviews!
We had a trip to my in-laws coming up (a 3-hour drive), which I knew would be the perfect opportunity to test out the cards.
I made sure to whip out the Family Pack just as soon as my husband pulled the minivan out of the driveway – I didn’t want to give the kids any time to settle into their phones and tablets!
“Hey everyone!” I shouted probably a little too enthusiastically as I grabbed a red ‘Fun and Random’ category card from the box, “Which TV show would you pick to live inside for a week?”
“Mom… what?” My 12-year-old daughter responded in her favorite, exasperated tone.
I explained that I got this pack of conversation starter cards for the drive, and that we were going to be using these to talk to one another instead of tuning each other out.
My husband swooped in to save us from a tirade of pre-teen complaints: “I love the idea, honey! I think I would want to live in the Game of Thrones world!”
Seeing his Dad on board was enough to get my 9-year-old son in on the conversation: “Avatar the Last Airbender!!!”
My daughter gave one last eye-roll (I was watching her face in the rearview mirror the whole time) before giving an answer of her own and questioning which of the four elements her little brother would like to bend…
And just like that… We were off!
We spent the next three hours passing the little box of cards around the car and having all kinds of super-engaging conversations about the prompts on the cards!
I could barely keep myself together for the car ride because I was just so over the moon that the cards were really working!
These road trips usually consisted of the kids being plugged into their devices and the Hubby and I listening to a podcast together.
Now, we were all sharing in spirited back-and-forths about questions like: “Do you think there is a difference between being smart and being wise?”
How amazing is that?!?
The Magic of the Family Pack Still Hasn’t Run Out!
We still love using the Family Pack to start stimulating conversations in the car!
Ever since that first day on the road to my in-laws, I think something really shifted when it came to the way my family thinks about being in the car together.
We used to not really think twice about going on our phones or doing our own thing, but now that we’re so used to using the cards to jump right into great discussions, it just feels like a waste of such precious time together to not engage in meaningful conversation with each other!
Basically, the Family Pack has totally re-framed the way we think about our time together in the car, and totally revolutionized the way we actually spend time together in the car.
And now, we communicate much better as a family unit, I’ve found out all sorts of delightful things about my kids, and everyone’s screen time has gone down!
By filling up ‘unused time’ with quality conversation, the Family Pack essentially gives you more time with the people you love the most.
If you want to see for yourself just how much time you can reclaim in the name of meaningful, in-person fun, check them out today!
