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Strollerderby
Britney Moment: Moving the Car With the Kids
The car has to be moved just a few hundred feet, and it’s just you and the kid at home. So do you do the whole “strap them in the carseat” routine for a few seconds of rolling?
Or do you plop them in the front seat or your lap for a bit of “helping” steer?
Michael Agger over at Slate’s Freaky Fortnight calls it his “Britney Spears moment.” But is it really that bad?
I’m not talking a round-the-block ride sans seatbelt. We live on a dead end street with very specific traffic patterns. Mid-day, things are dead. And with neighbors who are like family, sometimes we make use of each other’s driveways. So moving the car back and forth between the two is a common occurence – which takes two seconds. Leaving my four-year-old out of the car isn’t an option – I’m terrified of the all-too-common “parent backs over child accidentally” story. But getting her into the backseat, strapping her into the carseat, then climbing into my own seat, will take longer than the move.
So I tell her we’re going for a drive – and she can do the driving. Sitting securely on my lap, my foot on the pedal, both of my hands on the wheel, she puts her little hands on top of mine and “helps.” We’re back in our driveway in a jiffy, and she’s got a story to tell Daddy when he gets home.
There’s a tad bit of guilt, but not enough to bring on a Britney comparison in our household. What about yours?
Image: Pointless Banter
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Ri-chan commented on Oct 09 09 at 1:47 pmI know it’s really frustrating, but I always but my son in his car seat, even to move from one parking spot to the next. Sometimes I think “He could just sit on my lap” but my next thought is always a guilty “Its not worth it”
brokemom commented on Oct 09 09 at 3:58 pmWe travel down a private dirt road to get to our home, with grandma’s house on the way, also on the road. I not only let my son (18 mos) sit in my lap while I drive from grandma’s to home, but sometimes I let my 13 year old daughter drive us down the road (he’s buckled in his seat with this one).GASP! What a bad parent!
esther commented on Oct 09 09 at 9:42 pmI have never let my son sit in my lap while I drove, not because I think it is always unsafe, but because I don’t want him to think that the carseat is optional.
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