🤫🤐
Living on the road, the camper is home, office, schoolroom, playroom, and sometimes can even feel a bit like an escape room.
It can be kinda challenging to balance everyone’s needs when you’re living basically on top of each other, day in and day out.
We do feel that kids need to learn (at an early age) to be considerate and think of others, even while having fun. But does that mean that parents’ preferences should weigh more than those of their kids? 🤔 That’s the feeling I get from this popular old saying.
I’ve always been super grateful that my parents made me feel like my input was welcome and valued- whether at home, in public, around guests, or in almost any other setting. 😊
Looking back, that’s one of so many things I really respect about them. Now just hoping and trying to follow their example in this area…it’s harder than they made it seem!
There are a few things we’ve found helpful for dealing with noise as a fulltiming family with kids, play, school, work and hyperacusis.
Make sure kids understand that noise privileges don’t depend on age
For example, dad being dad doesn’t mean that he can turn on a ballgame while the kids are trying to concentrate on math homework. ✍️ Mom doesn’t do a noisy call while dad is helping a client with an urgent issue. 👨💻 We all try to step gently and talk softly if mom feels the need for a nap now and then. 💤
Thoughtfulness around the noise issue is a team effort, and it’s a human-to-human kindness thing, not an age-based privilege.
Make a safe place always available
Sometimes thoughtful people may feel overstimulated, but not want to put a damper on others’ fun. That’s fair, and kind ♥️, and we want to accommodate that as much as possible.
The kids (and parents) know that the parents’ room is almost always available to get away and breathe for a bit. 😌
But sometimes in a camper, even the parents’ room isn’t quiet enough. In that case, the truck is a nearly impenetrable safe space. This is where Joy goes if she needs to make an important call, and it’s where I go if my ears are abnormally painful or if I start to panic 😰 on an especially noisy day.
Make sure there is a healthy amount of legit noisy time
Kids should be considerate, but they are kids. There has to be regular time where they are free to be noisy and play without walking on pins and needles.
If the weather is nice, this can sometimes happen outdoors, which is obviously ideal. But since we spend a lot of our time in campgrounds, our kids often prefer to play indoors without being watched (and potentially scolded 😒) by neighbors and campground staff. Especially when we end up packed in like sardines somewhere (IYKYK).
So on a lot of evenings, if you walked by our camper, you’d probably hear an absurd amount of noise coming from one end. 🤪 Two doors away (in the parents’ room), Joy and I are likely sitting side by side either reading, working, or quietly watching a Vols’ game on the iPad. 🏀🏈⚾
Pro tip from a non-pro:
Get some quality noise cancelling headphones, even if it means saving up for a while.
Gentle music, combined with good noise cancellation, in comfortable headphones, can give the illusion of near-absolute peace and tranquility, even when the sky is falling not 20 feet away.
With hyperacusis, I take my headphones very seriously, and for my needs (heavy use + superb noise cancellation) Bose are the best. These are the best of the best and worst of the best in my opinion:
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra – unbelievable noise cancellation, far more comfortable than the 700s, overall best I’ve ever used, but enter #2:
- Bose QuietComfort 35 II – extreme comfort + good noise cancellation, my go to for extended use, even though they’re my oldest pair
- Bose 700 – Great noise cancellation, but if putting your head in a vice isn’t your thing, then skip these. I only use them in a pinch (😬 wait, was that a pun?). If I absolutely have to go in Walmart, these prevent embarrassing hyperacusis-related panic attacks, but without fail, my headaches spike when I wear them.
*Obviously these 👆 are affiliate links, so please consider the impact that may have on my credibility and my honesty. Full disclaimer with more troubling admissions here.
So that’s our take. 😊🙏 Where would your kids say you stand on this one? If camper noise management is something you’re already pretty experienced in, do you have any tricks or tips you could share with us?
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