For five years and eleven months, I've been schlepping my kids in and out of car seats.
I HATE car seats. I know they're designed to keep my kids safe and that's all they're meant to be, but seriously? I have cussed my way through many days of travel with these things. Last summer, the kids finally gained enough strength in their hands to clip themselves into the seats, but they never mastered getting themselves out. And all summer long I have effed and bs'ed my way through numerous errands.
The kids start school today (twins are in kindergarten - O.M.G!!!) at the same Montessori school, but with two new teachers and said teachers are keen on all the kids being as independent as possible. This means no more mama unstrapping kids; they need to be able to do it themselves.
On Sunday evening, Ty-man switched out the old car seats for the new booster seats and set the blasted, evil, hated car seats on the curb for landfill fodder.* As I stood outside and watched a stage of my kids' lives end, I talked to Neighbor Jodi.
Jodi: Aren't you going to take a picture of those?
Me: Hell, no!
Jodi: But this is an event! They're not little kids anymore! They're growing up!
Me: Jodi, I hate those fucking seats. I'm not going to cry over three pieces of kid equipment that gave me nightmares for five damned years!
And then she berated me and made me take a picture.
So, I took the friggin' picture.
I'm not sad the car seats are gone. I'm ecstatic. What I'm sad about is that my daughter wanted her hair much shorter for the beginning of school. I'm sad that my twins are just a year away from elementary school. I'm sad that J-man is almost two years younger than the twins but is just as mature as they are.
I'm sad that sooner rather than later my weekend morning cuddles will stop, that the hugs and kisses will slowly disappear, and that the unsolicited I love yous will quiet.
The car seats? Pfffft. Please. I hope they find a new home, protect some sweet kids, and continue to get cussed at every day by tired, harried parents.
I just wish I could keep all the great parts of my kids being this age and never see them go.
* SERIOUSLY! Why can't I sell my damned car seats?!? I hate this litigious society we live in. I should be able to have the damned seats inspected, certified that they're still doing their job of confining little humans, uncomfortably, in a minivan, and sell the damned things for 50 bucks a pop. INSTEAD, I have to set them out for the garbage man, only to catch some random woman in a pickup truck picking them up FOR FREE from MY CURB WITHOUT EVEN ASKING!!! Bitter? Yeah, just a bit. I told her she better not sue us for taking property THAT WASN'T HERS! OK. Fine. I'll let it go now.
6 comments:
Well, at least they didn't end up in a landfill. :-)
The saddest true thing I know is that our children grow up at their own pace, not the pace we would set for them, and there's not thing one we can do to stop them.
My Wife made me keep the car seats 10 years after the youngest stopped using one. When I put them to the curb, I also had 3. I only have two kids.
if it makes you feel any better, i would curl up on the couch with my mom until i was...hmmmmmmmm...well over 30. her leg made a great pillow. sure, it was not every day, but it certainly wasn't a rare thing, either. even when i was a teenager.
jodi needs to stop should-ing on you. although if she was gonna force you to take a picture of them, perhaps one of the woman stealing them would be beneficial in protecting you from a lawsuit!
Are you familiar with FreeCycle? Do that next time you want to get rid of something other folks want/need! We got a bunch of our toys that way.
Dave2 - True. And, of course, it was AFTER we set them out that I even thought to look up recycling info regarding car seats.
Chris Burdett - I know. Utterly depressing. There are some days I wish time were like a radio dial. "Today, I want the kids to be 3. Tomorrow, 42. Day after, 6 months."
LeSombre - Ten years?!? My body would have rejected that.
Hello Haha Narf - That makes me feel MUCH better. J-man was depressed at bedtime after the first day because he wanted to stay home with me. *Sniff*
Muskrat - I will probably do that with the toys I'm now cleaning out of their room.
Sybil Law - You know? I still have the diaper bags. Use them for scrapbooking now. :) But Desitin? I'm SO happy I no longer have any of that in my house!
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