Category Archives: car seat

Necessity Breeds Sufficiency

Today I increased my self sufficiency by a smidgen of a notch.
A year and a half ago when I wrote this post about car seats Hubby was around all the time and I didn’t need to know anything about how these contraptions work other than getting the kids in and out of them. Even though Hubby has been away a lot recently, I still didn’t need to know. In between the times he left and the times he came back there was never any reason for me to learn how to install a car seat.
Today Munchie got car sick, and threw up in the car, and Hubby is out of town. I tried using Clorox wipes to clean out the car seat. It was one of those vain attempts, where you know what you are doing isn’t really helping, but you are really, really hoping. Half a roll of wipes later and I finally gave in. The car seat needed to come out.
I practically wrestled this thing out of the back seat of my car, climbing over it, into it, around it, straddling it. It was quite the circus. But I found all the little hooks, releases, and clasps. And actually figured out how to use them.
The car seat came out, and my car is clean. If Munchie hadn’t thrown up everywhere I may have never learned. I guess necessity really does breed sufficiency.

Best of Elmo – Top 6 Elmo Toys

My daughter’s fascination with Elmo has finally started subsiding. I am not sure what happened, but you know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth. Unfortunately, at the peak of her obsession I was diligently researching some fun Elmo toys to perhaps surprise her on her birthday/Christmas/Easter or whatever else was coming up. Even though I am no longer going to be making use of my research (until either she gets her Elmo kick back or Ducky takes it up), I am going to share my findings with you. Hopefully this helps you shop for your Elmo-crazed little one.
Sesame Street Let’s Rock Elmo

We love music in our house. We buy the kids toy drums, pianos, maracas, guitars, etc. So I thought this toy was perfect, combining some of the kids’ favorite things. And Elmo kind of looks cute. But I didn’t say that.

Sesame Street Elmo Plush

This one is one of my favorites because it is so simple. Elmo isn’t doing anything, but with a child’s imagination he can be doing anything. Your kid can play with him, snuggle him, taking him anywhere. I love the versatility.

Fisher Price Tickle Baby Elmo

Ok, I have to admit is kind of cute. And you can quote me on that. This Elmo is considered a collectible, so it can be high in price. But if you are just getting it for your kid to play with, I recommend a knock off.

Sesame Street Elmo’s Find and Learn Alphabet Blocks

I love instructional toys, so I was very glad (even though not surprised) that Fisher Price made an Elmo alphabet set. Even though Munchie has several alphabet/number sets, one more, especially in a favorite character, can’t hurt. I may still get this one even if she is no longer a huge Elmo fan.

Sesame Street Car Seat Cover

I thought this one would be great to lure her into the car. Um… that kind of sounded wrong. But seriously, sometimes she just doesn’t want to get in the car. This is really frustrating in the mornings. So I thought this may be a little incentive. Also, if it doesn’t work as planned, at least I would have an easily removable car seat cover as opposed to having Hubby take the car seat out every time and hosing it done in the back yard, making it so I can’t take the kids anywhere in my car for a few days while it dries. All sorts of problems just got solved.

Fisher Price Elmo Live

Ok, this one is a little pricey if you buy it new. So your kid has to be absolutely devoted to Elmo. But if you can spare it, it is a pretty cool toy. You can also get it used. I personally have no problem with that, but I know some people would. Yet I could not have a Best of Elmo list without at least mentioning Live Elmo.

Are there any I have missed? What other Elmo toys are out there? 

Child Car Seat Confession

I have a confession. I am on my second child, and I still have no idea how car seats work. Now, before you call Child Protective Services, I assure you, I properly use the car seat every time we go anywhere. But aside from taking it in and out of the base mounted in my car, I am clueless.
What if I needed to move my children from my car to a different car in some type of emergency? I have no idea how to install a car seat base, or even how to get the car seat in the car using the belt system.
Sadly, I am not even sure I know how to adjust the straps, but at least I am somewhat certain I could figure this one out if needed. Unfortunately I do not foresee a strap emergency anytime in the future. I know kids grow fast, but they will not outgrow their current strap position in the time it takes us to get from home to school or the grocery store.
This is partly because so many people make such a fuss about proper child seat installation. When I was pregnant with my first, my husband and I attended some courses at our local hospital, and one of the lessons was on child seat safety. The man and the manual for the class made it appear that proper child seat installation is akin to advanced astrophysics (a subject I successfully avoided all throughout college).
I know I am not alone. I was recently talking to a friend of mine who is on kid number four, and she lamented being in the same predicament. She also has no idea how many of her child safety gadgets work. We realized this is all our husbands’ fault. They are so savvy and good at mechanical things we have no reason to take care of any of this. I really hope my husband is not reading this right now. He may take it as a hint to stop being so helpful, and then I will have to mount our newest convertible car seat (that just happened to arrive today). Hopefully he realizes that if he were to have me install it, he would essentially be compromising our Munchie’s safety, and risking her life.
Are child car seats that tricky? Is there a trick to them?