Public Service Announcement!

I have had a bit of writers block the last few days. That combined with a crazy busy work week at both my traditional job and Time 4 Me, left for little writing time. I am still deciding what topic I want to cover next so in the mean time I am posting a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Slow the crap down! Has it ever occurred to anyone that riding the tail of the individual driving in front of you will NOT encourage them to drive faster? Some of us simply can't afford speeding tickets, or we chose to use that money on better, more fun, totally more awesome things. If you wanna drive over the speed limit don't expect the guy in front of you to do so too. Stupid. Now, I for one usually choose to continue to drive my slow, 5 mph over the speed limit. That often has a tendency to catch the attention of drivers that fly up behind me wanting to pass on a double yellow or something. I just can't imagine that I have ever been in such a hurry that I was willing to sacrifice my own safety, the safety and happiness of my family and the the safety of another driver of whom I have never met.You stand warned my friends that if you ever fly up behind the blue car with "Time 4 Me" on the back window I will not be pulling over. I will be praying for your safety and mine and I will probably be saving your butt from the ticket waiting for you around the corner where the Sheriff is parked!
So what if you are one of those people going seriously like 10 under the speed limit? First off, thank you for your safety BUT unless you are in a residential area now you are a freaking traffic hazard. How bout instead of waving your arms frantically and yelling in your rear view mirror at those of us behind you, how bout you PULL OVER! That's right. If you don't like someone behind you, then let them pass! Geez. I'm really not sure what you accomplish by waiting until they are next to you or stopped at a light behind you and holding up a sign saying you're taking down their license plate number. What are you going to do with the number anyway? Call the Sheriff and say, " I was going 10 mph under the speed limit and the car behind me was following closer than I'd have liked"? LOL. Thanks for the laugh!
But seriously people, in residential areas kids are out! Just because you don't see them all the time doesn't mean they aren't there. Slow the crap down. Don't be stupid. It's not worth the outcome should you choose to speed. The most important speed limits to me are the ones that are 30 mph and below. That means there are people around. People who are loved by someone. Little's who are loved. SLOW DOWN.

Thanks for indulging my soap box tonight. I will return another day with a real topic addressing some of the real issues you new mom's are facing.

Remember, SLOW DOWN and take time to smell the baby lotion. :)

Carseat Canopy DANGERS!

You probably all have one? Right? Heck, I want one and I don't have a carseat to put it on.

 They are just that cute!

I wish that someone would have thought of this when my babies were babies! I love it! So why am I devoting an entire post to it? Well you see, I am thinking that someone, anyone may be like me and be a little sunny side up. You know? Glass half full kinda girl. I see things, I think they are wonderful and I want it. I am lucky though in that I have friends to bring me back down to earth and remind me to look at something fully when deciding to use it. Just like this. Super cute, eliminates the need for a blanket draped over the top, keeps people from coughing and sneezing all over my newborn, keeps strangers from staring at my baby. It's dark, baby sleeps. IDK, all around fantastic.

Well, maybe not. Maybe pretty wonderful but there are a few things to remember when you are using one of these. They are perfect for protecting your baby from the wind or rain or whatever mother nature is throwing at us that day. Like I said earlier, they are also great for keeping stranger from poking their heads in close and for keeping people from coughing or sneezing all over your baby. The risk involved here is when baby is covered there may not be adequate air flow. While that's the idea it's also the problem. If baby is "rebreathing" it's own Carbon Dioxide it could potentially cause SID's. Just make sure that if you are using one of these covers you take it off when the baby is safe in the car or house and that if you are leaving it down while you are in the store, maybe just make sure to vent out the sides or pull up one side only. While this isn't something that we hear all over the news it's definitely something to be considered. You don't wanna be the one to make the news. Right? At least not for that. Better safe than sorry.

Your car seat is how old?

Just like you wouldn't feed your baby expired milk. You shouldn't use an expired car seat. Well, I guess if you'd take a big swig of chunky goodness yourself then you would perhaps feed it to your kid, but NOT me!

Ever noticed the sticker on the back of your car seat? It's there, don't worry. It gives the manufactured date of your car seat. Did you know that car seats expire? Just like if your car seat has ever been involved in a car accident you aren't supposed to use it, the same is true with expired car seats. Generally car seats expire 6 years from the date it was manufactured. Why do they expire? They don't grow mold or explode. But technology changes. Well, technology advances. Along with advances the government is always changing its standards.

On another note let's talk about the switch from the infant carrier to the bigger car seat. The current AAP recommendation is that your baby ride in a rear facing seat until the age of 2 or when it meets the highest weight or length allowed by the manufacturer. That doesn't mean that you have to keep your 1 year old in it's infant seat, you can advance them to the bigger seat, just keep them facing the back. The AAP doesn't just make up a bunch of stuff they think would be funny to watch us as parents try to enforce. There is a science and real life situations to back it up. When it comes down to it you are the parent. It's your child and you are making the decisions regarding your babies safety. I just have to wonder at times if we are in such a hurry to have our kids grow up or to have that super cute car seat or to quit listening to the baby cry because it's sick of facing backwards. There are a million reasons we decide to turn our child's carseat to the front. But how many of them are good, truly good reasons. You know, selfless ones? How many of them are educated ones?
I'll admit right here right now. I was a carseat idiot. I made poor choices and thank Heavens my kids weren't hurt because of it. I didn't understand what I do know about why they should face backwards. I totally switched my kids to the front facing at 1 yr old. Even though my daughter was seriously too small for a front facing carseat. You and I as adults are fine to face forward. In a crash we are usually sent into a forward motion until our seat belt or car seat straps stop us abruptly at which point our head continues forward and then back in what we refer to as whiplash. If you've ever been in an accident you know that whiplash sucks!
It's not like that for infants and babies. They are very "top heavy". Their heads are heavier than their bodies, so, in an accident their heads are going to be thrust forward with 4x the force as ours would be. Now imagine them in a forward facing seat. I know right? Not to mention that their spine and spinal cord are different than ours in that the bones of their spinal cord are stretchy and flexible while their spinal cord itself is not. So....they can whiplash forward with little damage to their spine but the spinal cord itself is gonna snap. Paralyzed baby!
I get it. I really do. I know that your babies legs are getting longer and they are kicking your seat. I get that they freak out cause they can't see out like everyone else. I know that the bigger carseat is so weird strapped in backwards. I get all of that. Sometimes it's enough to make a mama down right crazy. BUT....now that you know WHY your baby should be facing backwards until they are 2 or big enough that they outgrow the length and weight recommendations on your carseat, do you still want to turn them front facing? What if it's that one time, that one moment. The person in front of you slams on their brakes and so you do the same. Too little too late and you run into their bumper at a pretty good pace. You have a sore neck and some bruises, but what about your baby? Kinda gives you that sick feeling in your stomach hu? I've got it right now just thinking about how stupid I was. Do everyone a favor. Keep the baby facing backwards. You're the mommy and you make the decisions. But I also know that you love your baby and would do ANYTHING to keep it safe. Just saying...........