Car seat woes

I really have a love/hate affair with car seats. Of course I appreciate the safety they provide, but I really loathe the reality that the boys are stuck in them during long car rides and that it often takes longer to get them buckled in than it does to drive the three minute ride to church. I feel like I am stuffing a turkey shoving Hudson into his seat if he is wearing his winter gear. And just ONE time like five months ago I pinched his thigh while buckling one of those critical five point harness straps and he will not let me live it down. Every. single. time. we go somewhere he will say, "Don't pinch me again, Mama!" Grrr.... "I won't, Hudson."

Couple this with the fond memories I have of my own childhood riding seat belt-less in the back window or sleeping in the floorboard space behind the driver's seat. I remember my parents turning our old station wagon's back half into a big bed for the drive to Kings Island. That would never happen how. Kids go from pumpkin seats to convertible car seats to booster seats. And they aren't cheap.

I say all this as I am shopping for a car seat again. Tucker, my five month old gigantic mini man, is already too tall for his car seat. Since Hudson will be in his seat for (ever), we have to buy another. (Indiana's child restraint law is age 8 or 80 pounds or 4'9. Lordy.) Since this purchase is Tucker's only Christmas present (sorry, little dude), it is not the cost that is stressing me out. It is the reality of losing the pumpkin seat.

Sure it is a back strain and tremendous pain in the butt, yet it makes Tucker so easily portable. If he is sleeping I can get him into the house/store/play date/restaurant without any trouble. And worse, since Tucker can not sit up yet, grocery shopping with him will not be possible. This is huge. I hate taking up weekend time to grocery shop. Shopping during the quiet weekdays is one of the best things about having a flexible job like I do. Today I proved it. For a variety of reasons and for the first time in maybe a year, I went grocery shopping today (Saturday) with just Tucker. The store was crazzzzzy crowded. So annoying. Tucker's pumpkin seat may have taken up 75% of the cart space, but as I knew he would, Mister T slept through at least half the trip, nestled comfortably in a sea of loaves of bread and frozen spinach. All that is over. Thursday is his six month appointment. I will take the official measurement of the pediatrician as my green light to install the evil convertible seat. In the meantime, we are working on sitting up every single moment.



Story for the record book: Naturally Tucker woke up (and grumpy) about two minutes before I hit the checkout line. Screaming as I loaded up the conveyor, he was a full throttle when the cashier had bagged the last item. So imagine my overwhelming DISGUST when she hit THE WRONG BUTTON while processing my Similac check VOIDED my entire transaction. Nearly $200 worth of groceries and she loses the whole thing. I nearly passed out. I got to take my goods and my child, who now is hysterically pissed off, over five lanes to get re-rung by some more knowledgeable customer service personnel. This earns me child-less weekend shopping for one month.