The other day as we were heading out I opened up the back of the wagon (aka, the Subaru) to put something in and Kiddo said, "I want to ride in there." I, being an upstanding 21st century parent replied, "No, that isn't safe." Then I thought for a second and added, "Well, it used to be safe but then stopped being safe around 1978."
I grew up with a station wagon. A glorious beast of a Chevrolet Kingswood. It outweighed a schoolbus and could hold almost as many people. It looked pretty much like this:
Just picture it with 10 people inside.
This was the car of my childhood. It replaced the blue Ford of earlier vintage but similar size which my parents and siblings probably have better memories of (it being the ride that hauled them all to California around 1965). We went everywhere in this thing. We could easily get three in the front, four across the middle and three in the rear-facing seat (if you were lucky you got to sit in the rear-facing seat and make faces at other motorists and implore big-rig drivers to honk their horns at you). Sometimes one of us would ride in the "squishy-squash" which was the little channel that was formed between the backs of the middle and rear seats. For a real treat, we'd fold down the rear-facing seat and sprawl out in the metal-bottomed "bed" of the wagon. Occasionally we'd add a blanket so we could slide around when the driver took turns a little too fast.
We even carpooled with the other family that had eight kids and alternated between our land yacht and theirs. To this day nobody has been able to explain to me why carpooling with the other biggest-family-in-the-neighborhood was a good idea. Car too crowded? We'd just alternate between sitting forward in the seat and sitting back to make more room. You could get six people across the middle that way!
Some wag at the church we all used to attend referred to the Kingswood as "The Clown Car."
I also drove this as a teenager when it was redubbed "The Stabbin' Wagon" and was handy for hauling Pagan Babies gear hither and yon. However, the less said about those goings on, the better. I think a hole in the gas tank finally killed the thing. And, yes, it was my fault.
It was an absolute tank and no matter how many people we crammed into it, never -- not once -- did anybody wear a seatbelt (same goes for the '64 VW Beetle I also drove that was in such disrepair it should not have been allowed on the road). I'm a little alarmed at what was normal behavior for us then that would be considered criminally negligent now. Are we too soft these days? Or were we impossibly reckless then? I can't wait to see what we think we're so smart about now that Kiddo can't believe we got away with.
All of this is a probably-needlessly-long-way-around-the-barn back to Kiddo. We bought her a tricycle a couple of years ago and only recently has she shown any interest in actually pedaling it. Probably our fault for buying one that had the long handle for parental pushing. What was her incentive to pedal when Dadoo would do all the work? None. But somebody gave us a second-hand princess bike a while back and Kiddo has been wanting to ride it, but we agreed that she can't until she figures out how to pedal the tricycle. Not sure if they are related, but lately she's been getting better at working it by herself. Steering is still a challenge, but all things in time.
Now, in keeping with the theme of Total Disregard for Personal Safety (I didn't wear a seatbelt until I was in my twenties), I never wore a bicycle helmet. Not because I was a rebel, but because nobody wore them. I don't know if a helmet would have saved me from this fake tooth:
Did a jump on my bike, front tire didn't come along for the ride. The crash was, by all accounts, spectacular.
but it would have likely spared me the probably-a-concussion when I was 18 and crashed a bike. Yet somehow I was adamant about not getting my kid a bike helmet until she was ready to ride on two wheels, unaided. Really, how bad could a tricycle wreck be? And if you wipe out on a bike with training wheels, maybe a bike isn't for you.
Now before you start in with the "I knew a kid once ..." retorts, let me just say that the other day Mimi said, "We should get her a helmet" and I said, "Yeah, okay." So falls another of my standards.
We headed out the local bike shop (because I wanted to get a helmet that fit her correctly and not just guess at some lid off the shelf from Sears). And we found one that had pink flames on it. Well, Kiddo found it and it was glorious. So we consulted with the resident helmet expert who recommended we go up a size because the pink flames one was just a little tight. Bidding a sad farewell to that particular beauty, we found another. Though less flamey, it was plenty pink. And we were ready to go.
I feel compelled to mention that it is an Adult-Small. Big brains demand big helmets, I guess.
She wore it for about 45 minutes, including the 15 minutes of simultaneous crying and riding back to the car after her mood went south. Later she wore it around the house while playing "Lady Shop" with Mimi.
In which she strikes a pose.
But more on "Lady Shop" another time.
I grew up with a station wagon. A glorious beast of a Chevrolet Kingswood. It outweighed a schoolbus and could hold almost as many people. It looked pretty much like this:
Just picture it with 10 people inside.image on loan from the cmcartney flickr photostream
This was the car of my childhood. It replaced the blue Ford of earlier vintage but similar size which my parents and siblings probably have better memories of (it being the ride that hauled them all to California around 1965). We went everywhere in this thing. We could easily get three in the front, four across the middle and three in the rear-facing seat (if you were lucky you got to sit in the rear-facing seat and make faces at other motorists and implore big-rig drivers to honk their horns at you). Sometimes one of us would ride in the "squishy-squash" which was the little channel that was formed between the backs of the middle and rear seats. For a real treat, we'd fold down the rear-facing seat and sprawl out in the metal-bottomed "bed" of the wagon. Occasionally we'd add a blanket so we could slide around when the driver took turns a little too fast.
We even carpooled with the other family that had eight kids and alternated between our land yacht and theirs. To this day nobody has been able to explain to me why carpooling with the other biggest-family-in-the-neighborhood was a good idea. Car too crowded? We'd just alternate between sitting forward in the seat and sitting back to make more room. You could get six people across the middle that way!
Some wag at the church we all used to attend referred to the Kingswood as "The Clown Car."
I also drove this as a teenager when it was redubbed "The Stabbin' Wagon" and was handy for hauling Pagan Babies gear hither and yon. However, the less said about those goings on, the better. I think a hole in the gas tank finally killed the thing. And, yes, it was my fault.
It was an absolute tank and no matter how many people we crammed into it, never -- not once -- did anybody wear a seatbelt (same goes for the '64 VW Beetle I also drove that was in such disrepair it should not have been allowed on the road). I'm a little alarmed at what was normal behavior for us then that would be considered criminally negligent now. Are we too soft these days? Or were we impossibly reckless then? I can't wait to see what we think we're so smart about now that Kiddo can't believe we got away with.
All of this is a probably-needlessly-long-way-around-the-barn back to Kiddo. We bought her a tricycle a couple of years ago and only recently has she shown any interest in actually pedaling it. Probably our fault for buying one that had the long handle for parental pushing. What was her incentive to pedal when Dadoo would do all the work? None. But somebody gave us a second-hand princess bike a while back and Kiddo has been wanting to ride it, but we agreed that she can't until she figures out how to pedal the tricycle. Not sure if they are related, but lately she's been getting better at working it by herself. Steering is still a challenge, but all things in time.
Now, in keeping with the theme of Total Disregard for Personal Safety (I didn't wear a seatbelt until I was in my twenties), I never wore a bicycle helmet. Not because I was a rebel, but because nobody wore them. I don't know if a helmet would have saved me from this fake tooth:
Did a jump on my bike, front tire didn't come along for the ride. The crash was, by all accounts, spectacular.but it would have likely spared me the probably-a-concussion when I was 18 and crashed a bike. Yet somehow I was adamant about not getting my kid a bike helmet until she was ready to ride on two wheels, unaided. Really, how bad could a tricycle wreck be? And if you wipe out on a bike with training wheels, maybe a bike isn't for you.
Now before you start in with the "I knew a kid once ..." retorts, let me just say that the other day Mimi said, "We should get her a helmet" and I said, "Yeah, okay." So falls another of my standards.
We headed out the local bike shop (because I wanted to get a helmet that fit her correctly and not just guess at some lid off the shelf from Sears). And we found one that had pink flames on it. Well, Kiddo found it and it was glorious. So we consulted with the resident helmet expert who recommended we go up a size because the pink flames one was just a little tight. Bidding a sad farewell to that particular beauty, we found another. Though less flamey, it was plenty pink. And we were ready to go.
I feel compelled to mention that it is an Adult-Small. Big brains demand big helmets, I guess.She wore it for about 45 minutes, including the 15 minutes of simultaneous crying and riding back to the car after her mood went south. Later she wore it around the house while playing "Lady Shop" with Mimi.
In which she strikes a pose.But more on "Lady Shop" another time.
Comments
I will say, I don't think forcing kids to wear helmets at a young age is as much about safety as it is about habit. Similar to you, if you let them go without until later on, it'll be hard to convnice them why they need to wear one outside of "because I said so." I figure the more positive things that Finn finds himself doing in the future without really knowing why the better. I'm all about trying to avoid future conflict. :)
Ric
My brother took duct tape and spelled "WHO'S YO DADDY?" in enormous letters on the hood. Since the car was white, it was incredibly easy to read.
My mother would pick me up from elementary school in that vehicle.
The end.
Cindy, I did consider the advantages of getting her used to wearing one early. So there's that. It helps that it's pink-tastic. Although the other day she called it her "Spider-Man Helmet." That's okay, too.
Ric, I'm glad you were not deprived as a baby.
Mags, thank you for the historical note. I did not know that was you. I will start calling you Wags.
Geraldine, that explains everything. Every. Thing.
-Ph
Yuki looks fashionable in Everything! Including bike helmets. She is like her mom in that way!
Love you
xo
gibs
Current laws vary from state to state, but I think in some states, you must ride in a car seat facing backward until you obtain your driver's license.
If I had my way, car seats would be "car bubbles" and would be sound proof. Also any food products dropped in them would be immediately vaporized.
You have the cutest kid around!! That adult small will probably fit her until she is indeed a small adult!
XOXO
Judy