Sometimes* I hate car seats so much, I want to be that lady. You know the one, you see her pulling into or out of the Wal Mart parking lot. She's driving some sort of junker car, she's got two-three dirty kids, (who clearly should be in car seats), holding McDonalds bags and walking or jumping around in the back (or maybe front) seat of her car. She either still thinks it's 1973 or she's on drugs or she has just broken her last fingernail and can't bear to strap another child into a car seat. I used to judge her harshly and wonder how fast the cops would come if I called them, but now I realize... she's free! Free from the drudgeries of child safety and "the law" and sometimes I want to be just like her.
Although I would never not strap my children into their car seats (intentionally), I do have two side notes to this "Sometimes".
Side note #1: If you think for a second that there are car seats in Africa, think again. There aren't always seat belts or even proper seats in vehicles Africa, so the first time either of my children were strapped into anything was here in good ol' USA, and believe me, it elicited some tears from a certain 2 1/2 year old.
Side note #2 and update on my Parenting Fail list: The other day after a long day at the zoo, I loaded up all of our belongings, including a stroller and all it's entrapments and my two children into the car. After settling into my seat and breathing deeply I went to start the car, only to hear Vaughn say something in French about Eloise, the only word I caught was 'open' or 'close'. I thought he was tattling on her for something and decided promptly to ignore him. But he was insistent and when I looked at her, it didn't look like she had done anything wrong, in fact, it seemed more like she was thinking, "are you crazy lady, listen to the boy!". He said it again and pointed at her and I finally realized that sweet, helpful Vaughn was pointing out that although I put Eloise in her car seat, I failed to buckle her in.
*'Sometimes' is a new series of posts where I confess my true feelings.
This series will allow you to:
a) judge me harshly
b) identify closely with my failings (and maybe still judge me so as to not judge yourself)
c) feel insanely sorry for me
d) call a higher authority (the police, an ambulance, a psychiatrist)
2 comments:
When I was a mom of two, I once drove a (relatively short, thankfully!) distance home with my then 1-year-old and newborn baby. When I went to unload them, I found the baby sideways in his infant carseat. Because I had forgotten to buckle him in. =) Thankful that God looks out for us!!
When you were young we didn't have car seats. I am sure you remember the story of the horrible accident we were in. I could not find you once all had come to a stop, I was in an absolute panic. You were sleeping peacefully on the floor of the truck. As Christina said, God looks out for us.
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