Three and a half miles later at a stop light, Luke turns in his seat to look at something out the window. "Mom," I hear from the back, "I don't have my seatbelt on." I knew instantly what had happened. Thankfully, there was a bank with a big parking lot right there, so I just pulled in, got out, and buckled him in. Got back in the car, back on the road, and all was well.
I just can't believe I did that! And I am horrified at what might have happened. I am so grateful that he realized it so quickly and that he spoke up, though if he is anything like me, he doesn't feel safe in the car without it.
Currently feeling:
bad mom!
You're not alone, in fact I imagine there's very few parents who haven't done something similar.
ReplyDeleteLia's reaction to a similar situation was hysterical screaming - thankfully I'd only started the car, I wasn't moving as she sounded like she was being murdered!
Yup, I've had something similar happen. DH was waiting in the car with Henry while I went and did something. I came back to the car, started it up and started to drive away. DH asks me if I knew that Henry wasn't buckled into his car seat yet (infant carrier at the time).
ReplyDeleteYep, has happened to me too. Loading a bunch of stuff in the car at the same time I was supposed to buckle Katie and I just forgot. She wasn't so honest as Luke though and didn't tell me. I noticed her standing! in the backseat out of the corner of my eye before I realized and pulled over and buckled her in (with full lecture on this is dangerous, always tell mom if she forgets to buckle you!).
ReplyDeleteDon't beat yourself up over it, Erin. It was an honest mistake and Luke brought it to your attention. Better he said something than you finding out he was unbuckled as he crawled into the front seat with you, lol!
ReplyDeleteChalk me up as another one who has done that. Don't sweat the small stuff. At least you know Luke will tell you. ;)
ReplyDeleteDone it too. The "proudest" time when she was just under 2 and I looked in my rear view mirror and saw she was standing backwards in her seat. We were maybe a mile from home...
ReplyDelete(I feel compelled to mention that the word verification for this comment is "methmaxe". It makes me laugh.)
Exactly how I felt when you were 2 months old. I strapped you in the car seat then remembered I needed something inside the house. I got out of the car and shoved the door almost closed when I realized that my keys were still in the car with you! Or when I got all the way to work with Jacob sound asleep in the car seat - I had forgotten to take him to the sitters! Thank goodness it was the olden days when babies were in the front seat where you could see them.
ReplyDeleteLast month, when Eric was out of town, Owen woke me up around 4 a.m. one morning. I thought I was fine with the sleep loss until we got to daycare. He had ridden 35 miles, 30 of those on the freeway at 65-70 mph, sitting loose in his car seat.
ReplyDelete