This morning I pulled up in front of Jackson's school to drop him off. When I opened the door there was a little girl from his class standing outside who saw that Jackson still uses a booster seat and she said, "Oh my god, you still ride in a booster?! I don't have to use one of those anymore. I can sit in an adult seat. I can't believe you still ride in a booster!"
By law Jackson is not required to ride in a booster, but sometimes we have to look past what the law requires to see what is actually safest. Age and weight just don't seem like the best standards by which to measure a child's readiness to move out of a booster. There could be a really short, fat 6 year old who meets both the age and weight requirements yet still needs a booster so the seatbelt doesn't cut across his neck. Four feet nine inches seems to be the consensus on when a child can safely be in a shoulder/lap belt only. There are diagrams on the web showing exactly where the the seatbelt should be positioned, how the knees should bend over the seat, etc. And, yes, I have consulted these diagrams because I am just that anal about my children's safety.
So when the little girl, who was clearly under 4'9", mocked my son for being in a booster this morning it was all I could do to not roll down my window and say to her, "That's because your mommy doesn't love you as much."
3 comments:
OMG,Who was it? Oh how i wish we could name names!
Btw next year, we are gunna have the OC sheriff come buy the school so that parents can have a "car seat safety check"...
Mindy i wonder if you should post something similar on our first grade email list...
And names names!
uumomma
Oh, I couldn't possibly name names. But on a completely unrelated note I sure am going to miss that sea air, uh, you know... when we move to NC. I'm sure there will be some beautiful mountain ranges, though.
Ah, hell, we've only got a few more weeks at the school, anyway.
yup, i knew it!
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