Saturday, May 15, 2010

I was mortified!!

Well, one thing I do as a cashier is observe! I see so much stuff! Let me share what I saw the other day..

This lady has 3 boys. While I was ringing them out, she didn't seem to have much control over them. They were throwing stuff and running around.
There wasn't anybody behind her in line so I watched them walk outside to their van. She gets the two younger ones into their car seats (neither of them were rear-facing) and the older one (MAYBE 4) gets into the front seat (he didn't just jump up there from the back, he opened the door and got in). This wasn't the most shocking part. What did I see next? He was standing up in the seat and looking at the other two boys as his mom put the car in reverse to drive away!!! This child has NO seat belt on AND he's standing up while she's driving!!!

Let me get this out of the way- I don't have kids. So let me save you some time... "easier said than done", "each child is different" and "you don't know the circumstances". GIVE ME A BREAK!! It takes 10 seconds to pull a seatbelt across your child.

Jeremy has NO idea about kids. He doesn't know that they are supposed to sit rear-facing until they are at least two. He doesn't know the technical stuff. So I inform him when I'm ranting and raving. I told him that our kids will be rear-facing for a LONG time. Normally when I talk about kids, he tells me to "ssshhhh" because that's not what he is thinking about right now in life. But when I talk about how crappy this parenting was or when I talk about rear-facing he just listens and nods. I think he can tell how important this is to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. When Jeremy was at basic, I took Alec (eight at the time) to Pizza Hut and I let him sit in the front seat (they need to be 12 before they are sitting up front so the seat belt fits properly) but he had a seat belt on. I wasn't totally ignorant! And Jeremy has done the same thing, he has let Alec sit up front... WITH a seat belt!

I just can't believe that this lady let that happen! Sure, maybe they were going to another store at the mall, so she just let him sit up front, but put him in a seat belt! The intersection in front of work is very busy and hard to get out of. I feel sorry for this poor boy, not getting the proper parental guidance.

5 comments:

  1. Some people just have no clue. My sis and I used to babysit kids when we were lik 12 and 14. This family had 3 kids, a baby and like a 4 and 6 year old. They would let the 6 year old hold the baby in the car!!! I knew then that it wasn't safe!! My 4 year old has never sat in the front seat and won't for a long time.

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  2. I got terribly car sick, so when I was old enough to wear a seatbelt, I sat up front. It made car trips a lot less miserable for everyone. The airbag was turned off of course, but that doesn't make my mother a bad parent.

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  3. Mary you also weren't standing up! And she waited until you were able to, and put up with your car sickness until then. No it doesn't make her a bad parent!

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  4. There weren't laws about being in the back until 12 back then. I think I was around 3-4. All I know is I was miserable in my carseat, so I got to ride up front after that. I definitely wasn't 12 (or even 8)!!!!!! No biggie for us. I'd probably do the same for my kids if they were sick in the back and outgrew their carseat.

    There is a big difference in standing up and being seatbelted in, but I wouldn't be too hard on somebody just because their kid was in the front.

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  5. YIKES!!!!!!!!!! that is seriously, seriously messed up!!! O.o and here I am unhappy that I can't have my 2 year old in a 5 point harness in the back middle seat anymore because she's above the height and weight limit now, lol!!!! Some ppl!!! Yikes!

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