I am a licensed Civil Engineer. I'm qualified to design and
build bridges, freeways, buildings and the other basic building blocks of
society. Yet installing a rear-facing convertible carseat brought me to
my knees, covered in sweat, swearing, with multiple bruises. Who invented
these things? Are you seriously going to tell me that there is no better
way to safely secure the future generation than these
cumbersome devices?? I can buy a new car with every option from full
perimeter cameras, to in-seat entertainment, but 'safely transport my child'
isn't a dealer available option?
Car seats are arguably the most critical
piece of baby equipment. They are also a miserable rite of passage for parents.
Engineer or not, installing a carseat
isn't easy. Installing two car seats is less easy. Installing three
car seats becomes a feat of engineering and perseverance involving math, planning, googling, and
crying. And frighteningly, some studies indicate that up to 93 percent of
parents make mistakes installing seats. And once the carseats are installed, the fun has just begun.
Time to install the child.
Time to install the child.
Ever tried putting a broken chapstick
back in the tube? My child will suddenly go completely mushy, making
wedging them into the seat correctly nearly impossible. Or better yet, he'll go completely stiff
requiring a herculean effort to bend him into the shape of the seat. This
ordeal should certainly count as my workout.
And it is seriously unfair to keep moving
the bar! It feels like every year car seat recommendations change. I call foul!
Set the rules and stick by them.
At this point my children will be rear facing more or less until they
are driving.
Finally, why, why, why does something
designed for kids have so many places for stale raisins to reside? I will never fully eradicate the remains of the bazillion ground up cheerios. Not to mention the chocolate stains from the various attempts at bribing
the kids into said seat. One of the grossest things I've experienced lately was looking back to see my son chewing on something when I hadn't given him a snack. "What are you eating??" "A piece of a thing from my seat." I guess I'm withdrawing my mother of the year application again this year.
And then there are the explosions. The ones that are way worse than the toddler making a volcano out of a GoGo squeeZ. I
mean THOSE explosions. Everyone out of the car because by the time we get everything out and cleaned, we aren't going anywhere for a very long time.
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