It happens. For some, indeed more often than others. It doesn’t discriminate: it can happen to the best of us, it can happen to those who just don’t care. No, sillies! 😛 I’m not talking about that, lol!
Last weekend my dh and I went away for the weekend and my dad and stepmom were here to watch the kids for us. What a great idea, I thought. It would give them a chance to see them and really get to know each other. My dad and stepmom live in a different state and only visit briefly once a year, so the kids really only know them through birthday and Christmas presents. My dh left a day early so he could head up with some friends to ride his bike, so it was my job to entertain the folks Thursday night. We headed to dinner at a yummy local Mexican restaurant in the ol’ van.
I was busy corralling everyone into the garage and getting them situated into the van. Stepmom in the 3rd row where the headrest had been raised to the appropriate level. Since she’s been known to go without a seat belt before, I was concerned about getting her buckled up correctly. Dad in the front passenger seat where I could see him 😉 . OK. I got into the driver’s seat, chastised my stepmom for not buckling up and listened for the seat belt click, glanced at the kids, and we were off for some yummy food. Yay!
After our fill of freshly made-at-the-table guacamole, we roll out to the van and I go about putting my dd into her Frontier (be on the lookout for a video coming up—it’s been a great training seat for my students so far and I can’t wait to share more 😉 ). Wait! I don’t remember tightening her harness for the ride to the restaurant. That’s because I didn’t! 😮 My dd gets into her seat and pulls the harness as tight as she can get it, but it’s still quite pinchably loose. I asked her if she rode to the restaurant loose and she got a sly smile on her face. Argh! I was so busy worrying about our guests that I never made it over to that side of the van to pull her harness snug.
Dd’s always been a quiet child, not speaking up when needing to. I never thought she’d be shy with me, especially with car seats, especially when nearly every day I tell her how her harness has to be snug to protect her. I’ve never disciplined her for not speaking up, just told her how dangerous it is to not do it and how important it is for her to be safe. Perhaps it’s the wrong tactic to use with her. I don’t know—she’s my “easy” child, so I figured she’d be easy in car seats too. But when it could potentially be a deadly mistake, eek! I’ve got to figure out how to get her to speak up . . .
Let me know how it goes! My DS is a year older than your DD, I think, and money really works for him! LOL
You know, I bet giving her a quarter every time I “forget” to tighten the harness might get her to speak up about it. She loves money (ah, now I know she’s related to me, lol!) and that might be her motivator. Good idea.
I could enlist my ds as the Safety Patroller to help make sure *everyone* is buckled up correctly. He’s not afraid to speak up 😀 and is my safety guy, despite not being the best booster sitter.
No one else has any ideas for murphydog? Seriously? 😉
I agree.. this is time for bribery
tell her that when she “tattles on mommy”, she gets money.
not only will it encourage her to vocalize, it will definitely help her see that Mommy gets a penalty for not keeping her safe or remembering things… and it may help your memory.
a dime, a quarter, fifty cents, depending on what the issue is.
And heck, if she will tell you when grandma or grandpa need reminding, give her a dollar.
Oh, yeah, we’ve all been there…. I crowned my kid Safety Patroller in charge of making sure everyone in the car was buckled up tightly. It was annoying for a while until she outgrew the fun of it. But, I think puting her in control of that task (which I still did my best to oversee from the sidelines) ingrained it in her enough to speak up, even in my absense, or so my friends tell me: EX “she freaked out until we untwisted the belt”. GOOD LUCK
Make it a game – maybe she gets a quarter for every time she catches you forgetting to tighten her harness? Let her “catch” you once or twice so she actually gets a quarter, and I bet she’ll be just waiting to yell out “Mom, you owe me a quarter!” (or whatever “currency” works for her – money, candy or other treat, book, etc.)