Survive More Family Outings

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #DataAndAMovie #CollectiveBias

I have to admit something. Before we had kids, I totally judged those parents that gave their kids electronics to play with at the dinner table. I would see all these kids out at a restaurant with their family just playing on tablets and phones and think about how silly that was.

Notice I said that was before we had kids. Before we had the boys, we went to dinner, shopping, bowling, and hung out with friends. I'm not saying I would change anything about our life now, but we have definitely made some adjustments.

As of right now, I can say that when the kids get older, I plan on going back to my no-electronics at the table thinking. That said, when we're out to dinner these days, the phone is often brought out to entertain. At first I felt awful doing it. I mean, can't I sit down to a dinner out and enjoy my family? Yes, I could. But… the kids are little right now. Waiting twenty minutes for food to arrive when you're two is really hard.

One of Owen's favorite things these days is watching YouTube. Personally, I don't get it. How can watching someone open up play dough covered eggs be that exciting? He thinks it is though, so I'm all about making him happy. He will gladly sit and watch them for an hour straight. Do you have any idea how much data gets sucked up watching YouTube videos?

I usually try to connect to the wi-fi wherever we are, but sometimes that wi-fi is just really bad. No one has time to mess around with a poor wi-fi connection! Luckily, with the Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan, we're able to let the boys stream all they want and not worry about it!

The Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan gives us Unlimited Talk, Text, & Data which includes up to 10GB of 4G LTE plus a free movie on VUDU every month, per line for $49.88! We picked up the Samsung Galaxy Prime, which has a nice 5″ screen, a 8 MP camera, and a 5 MP front-facing camera.

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/28aqc or your local Walmart for current pricing.

With all that data available, the boys can stream all surprise egg videos or Curious George that they want. You know what that means? We get to eat out like grown-ups more. We do try to give them crayons and paper first, but doesn't seem to hold their attention while out as often as we would like.

And all that judging I used to do about those parents that had kids on electronics while at a restaurant? Nothing is worse than having your kid scream or run around like crazy! I will gladly hand over a phone for entertainment while at a restaurant if it means Tom and I can enjoy a meal out. Oh, and it's not just us! The rest of the restaurant patrons appreciate it as well!

We've been trying to squeeze in a little winter fun the past couple of months and doing a movie night on Friday or Saturday night. It's super easy for us to watch new movies each week on our Roku TV. We usually let Charlie pick, but try to remind him to pick something that his brother will also like. Did you catch where I said that WFM PLUS includes a FREE movie on VUDU every month? So not only am I saving on our phone plan, but I get to save money on something else we're buying anyway!

What would you do with all that data?