Judgemental-scratching-my-head post ...
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Judgemental-scratching-my-head post ...
| Sun, 10-23-2005 - 2:29pm |
Dh and I went to an Indian place for dinner last night. (GREAT!)
As we were about done with our dinner, a lady with her 5 kids, ages about 14 to 6,

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My children's preschool did away with field trips specifically b/c of the liability issue with carseats in private cars - now they bring in special performances, traveling educational groups, etc. My dd's school uses school buses for field trips.
I'm surprised that private cars are used for field trips in this day and age. With sue-happy Americans, I can't believe there isn't more concern with the liability.
http://www.safety1st.com/boosterlaws/index.htm
Our daycare/preschool doesn't do any field trips with the kids under school-age. Once they hit kindergarten and move to the school age classroom they start taking field trips. They also use vans instead of buses so there are better seat belts and its easier to do car seats if needed.
I admit, Callahan is 2 lbs shy of the legal limit for car seats, and although we plan on keeping him in his booster in our cars for quite some time, he doesn't use one when being transported from daycare to school. They go, literally, less than 1/4 of a mile and never go above 20mph (school zone speed limit -- in fact, as busy as our drop-off area is, they rarely get above about 10mph), so I feel the risk is infantesimely small. Dd, and the older kids, actually walk from the daycare to school, so it isn't an issue for any of them.
Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color.
Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable.
It did change here (Indiana), just this year in fact. Until this July I believe that nothing was required by law beyond 3 years. The vast majority of parents I know kept their kids in boosters until they were 6 or so, but many let it go after that. This summer, the law changed to require them to be in appropriate seats or boosters until they're 8 years or 80 pounds (my dd could be in driver's ed by the time she weighs 80 lbs!) So we know a number of kids who have ridden without a booster for a year or more who had to go back to one this summer.
At any rate, for us anyway, it's not that anyone said it was babyish that dd still rode in a harness. It's more that people noticed it and made mention of the fact that it was because of her size, which didn't appeal to her. It's also the logistical difficulty of her not being able to go home from school with a friend, ride in someone else's car on a field trip, etc.
Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable.
I'm sure we would have a conversation about it if it happened but really, the only people who even know she is in a booster or convertible carseat are kids who ride in our car. Kids who are her friends. Friends who might ask legitimate questions about why she rides in a booster/carseat, but it has never gotten to the level of teasing. Perhaps this is more of a boy thing. And in that case, I'm sure I will face that since my ds is very small for his age. However, there are such things as backless boosters that are much more inconspicuous in the car if he feels the need to be concerned about it.
Teasing is most certainly a fact of any child's life and they will have to face it at some point. I can't protect them from everything and I don't disagree that it could be an issue for them. However, with respect to booster seats, because it is something we are strict about from day one, and explain the importance of as soon as they understand, it is not something they question for themselves. What I usually hear is "why isn't so and so riding in a booster, Mom?" instead of "Why do I have to ride in a booster when no one else does?" Even if the question is the latter at some point, I'm pretty sure they will understand and accept the answer. If not, I'll deal with it.
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