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Safety or Paranoia?
July 27th, 2008
We took a little road trip this weekend, and The Son and I were alone in theHuckablazer for a couple of hours. About fifteen miles past the middle of nowhere, I looked in the rearview mirror hoping to see my peacefully napping baby. He was not strapped in his seat! My head snaps around and he is STANDING IN THE FLOORBOARD behind me. The little monkey has figured out how to unsnap his friggin’ car seat.
When he outgrew his infant car seat a year ago we returned to Consumer Reports and the National Insurance reviews to find the safest car seat we could buy. Remember how I told you we were paranoid parents? Yeah….I was serious. Anyway, this is what had the top scores. We let The Neighbors test drive theirs (they had the same thing in gray already for H), while The Son gained that extra pound and a half. When they loved it, we went ahead a bought one as well. Doesn’t it look like he could go into space in this seat?
The Son has always loved his car seat, and with the exception of a couple of loudly memorable long trips, he just talks happily the whole way to wherever it is we are going.
Needless to say, this whole Iamnotgoingtostayhereevenifyoustrapmein! attitude is not a welcome development. I pulled over at the nearest exit (ten miles ’til Nothing), and re-strapped him in with a stern lecture and threat to Thomas the Tank Engine. Back on the road, when he was again safe, I realized five minutes earlier when my darling was not strapped into his pricey anti-worry device, my heart was in my throat, and I was seriously regretting the tapering off my meds. But, you know what? That is not a new interstate. Toddlers are certainly not a new invention, so why is it our generation needs car seats made with “head and torso safety wings”? A quick trip to Google lead me to this:
The first toddler car seat. There is not even a belt on it, it exists solely to catapult your child through the windshield. Er, let them see where they are going to avoid car sickness. If car seats have come this far in the last 60 years, imagine what my grandchildren will be riding around in. A hovering bubble maybe? What other baby products do we use of which our grandparents could never have dreamed? My Anglecare monitor, which would beep if he stopped breathing, comes to mind, as does that double barreled electric breast pump. What do you think?
Filed under The Son, Uncategorized |5 Responses to “Safety or Paranoia?”
The pure white finished has just a hint of warmth to create a soft and feminine look. Toddler
um, what? Are you an ad?
I wonder what that’s an ad to? Maybe a tampon? Yep! That’s what it must be.
As for the safety seats, I remember the day my brother hopped out of his. Of course, his wasn’t quite as high-tech as the monster seat you have. But, my dad being a safety inspector, gave us a thirty minute lecture citing examples, and my brother never tried to exit the seat again. I’m sure he was avoiding the latest in torture…my dad’s long-winded, if oft-pointless, stories. In fact, he once told us a 45 minute story about veneer furniture. If anyone wants details, I’ll have him call you. NOTE: It is not entertaining, though if you suffer from sleep deprivation it may help you gain sleep (immediately).
Maybe that’s where I get it…my gift of gab…from my dear old dad!
I remember riding on the arm rest in my grandmother’s 1974 new yorker. That was my seat. How scary is that?
My little one has been getting out of his car seat as well. He doesn’t do it when big brother is back there to stop him, but big brother was gone for a couple of weeks so we had quite a few trips into town where we had to stop every so often, lecture the child, and strap him back in.
Imagine my fear, as the lead-car driver, when I checked my rearview mirror and couldn’t see HeyYou’s car ANYWHERE. I slowed down to oh about 50, causing more than one driver to curse me as they blew past, and finally pulled over when it became evident that HeyYou and TheSon weren’t just stuck behind a tractor-trailer rig.
When she and baby rattled past my little, hard-to-miss, red putt-putt car, I pulled back onto the road to nowhere and sped up to follow them. Then promptly called TheHusband, asking what his wife’s license plate was. Imagine my frustration when he replied, “dunno”! But, when I asked if it sported a yellow “McCain” sticker, he immediately replied “yes”.
So, I followed her until the next time she pulled over. TheSon was still insisting upon being released from his bondage in the space-age-safety-seat.
And then…Dun-dun-da-dun!!! Sassy to the rescue!!! We placed her in the backseat with TheSon and, according to his mom, peace reigned for the rest of the trip. Thank you, God, for the connection you wired into the brains of little boys and dogs!!