Would yours have reminded you?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
May 29, 2009 3:10pm CST
Today was shopping day. I had my 16 month old and almost 3 year old boys with me as I always do. I'd just finished up at the first grocery store. I push the cart over to my van, take the youngest out of the cart and open the side of the van his car seat is on. My 3 year old climbs in the van on this side, even though his car seat is on the other side. This is just a habit of his, and I let him do it. I buckle the baby in and close the door while the 3 year old climbs into his seat by himself. Normally I buckle him up before I get in myself, because he sits right behind me.
So, I go about putting my groceries in the van while watching the 2 boys play happily together. I bring the cart back to the coral which is right there, and now my mind is on how much money I've spent and how much I should have left in the bank at this point. I'm not real good at math, so this takes a lot of attention!
I get in the van, start rummaging for my keys, and suddenly my 3 year old starts screaming in a panic! "SEAT BELT...MOM!!!! SEAT BELT!!!!" oops! I forgot to buckle him!
Have you ever done that? Would your child remind you that you forgot to buckle them?
2 people like this
15 responses
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
1 Jun 09
I manged to drive a long journey once with my son strapped into the car seat, but I forgot to attach the car seat to the car! I only realised when I got home and went to unstrap him. At the time, he'd have been too young to realise. It's really easy to do.
I think my son would probably tell me now. It's part of the routine so if I forgot he'd want to shout all about it.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
1 Jun 09
That happened to me a few times too. Especially now that hubby and I both have vehicles all the kids fit into. We swap car seats back and forth, so I've forgotten to check once or twice if hubby buckled them in after taking them out of his car!
Well, now when we swap them we make sure they're buckled!
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
29 May 09
When my son was little he was like Houdini....if I belted him in he would get out as fast as he could..and he wouldn't remind me know way....but his daughter is almost four and she feels inclinded to be in charge of things like that and does remind others to buckle up....she also reminds us not to talk with food in our mouths....etc....
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
29 May 09
Too cute! My youngest is one of those Houdini's. He hasn't escaped his seat belts yet, but he does stand up in the cart, even if buckled in. One of these days he's going to fall on his head!
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
2 Jun 09
Yep, I've done this before with both of my kids (different instances, of course). 
For some reason or another I'd forget (no thanks to having a lot on my mind). Anyway, my oldest can't talk like a typical child as he's autistic. He'd start grunting and pointing frantically if I had forgotten as I'd start to pull away. I'd be like, what's wrong? And then look over at him and see. 
Fortunately he can buckle himself in now, so it doesn't happen anymore.
As my youngest son still uses a car seat I have to help buckle him in each time. And sometimes I forget. But he usually tells me before we drive off, thank goodness!
For some reason or another I'd forget (no thanks to having a lot on my mind). Anyway, my oldest can't talk like a typical child as he's autistic. He'd start grunting and pointing frantically if I had forgotten as I'd start to pull away. I'd be like, what's wrong? And then look over at him and see. Fortunately he can buckle himself in now, so it doesn't happen anymore.
As my youngest son still uses a car seat I have to help buckle him in each time. And sometimes I forget. But he usually tells me before we drive off, thank goodness! 
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
1 Jun 09
I have done that. Especially when they are old enough to do it "if they wanted to" and you think they did it but then they tell you , that you forgot.
On the other hand my girls nag my hubby cause he doesn't always wear a seatbelt and they will nag him as long as the van keeps making that lil noise to say "buckle up".
@ms1323 (259)
• United States
1 Jun 09
I have 9, 3 & 2 year old children. The 3 year old routinely climbs in and buckles herself up while the 2 year old climbs in, but I have to buckle him in. One day I started backing out of the driveway and she starting yelling "no mommy not yet, I'm not done...you can't go yet!" It was great, they are sooo smart!
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
29 May 09
Aw that is cute! We've done that a few times. Sometimes they have yelled right away that we forgot. But sometimes they would wait till we were moving down the road and then they would mention that we forgot to buckle them lol. I think one time my oldest made it the whole trip unbuckled and then told us when we got home. Luckily we hadn't gone far. We gave her heck about it and she hasn't done it since.
@hiddenwing (3719)
• China
29 May 09
You kid is so smart! To be honest, we didn't even buckle up most of the time since the drivers always drived very slowly. There was a big crowd in China. All we hoped was there was no traffic jam! It reminds me of the thing that the population of China is really a big problem. I hope sometimes Chinese can find a way to deal with it!
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
29 May 09
It is easy done, there has been an occasion that my hubby has not fastened our daughter in to her car seat. She did not say anything though we did not realise until she came in between us in the front seats. I nearly had heart failure on the spot because if hubby needed to slam the breaks on she would have been gone, does not bear thinking about.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
29 May 09
What a smart child! He just knew that something was not right and tol;d you what it was. My gd always checks as soon as she gets in a car to see if everyone is buckled in. Kids are so bright. He just knew that something was not right as you had not buckled him in.
@kapil_rajpurohit (21)
• India
30 May 09
hey i feel that ur 3 year old child was habituated to wear that seat belt and so he started screaming that "seat belt... mom!!!! seat belt!!!!".ok.even ur child is smart enough 2 remind u.
"have a nice day katsmeow1213"
@xoxcharityxox (567)
• United States
29 May 09
my daughter is three also. She usually buckles herself in, but she will not let you back out without being safely in her seat. She went through a time period when she was two though that she would wait until we were on the high way and unbuckle herself and dance in the back window. I couldn't count how many times I had to pull over to put her back. She thought it was the funniest thing ever. Now she's "safety" conscious all the time.
@Fattboy (1)
• United States
30 May 09
That is so funny! Well not really funny, because it could be very dangerous but that has happened to me and my husband also. We have a 1 year old and a 4 year old and we buckled in our 1 year old and started putting things in the back of our car and then we both got in and just as my husband started to back out of our drive way, we heard "no mama!!! you forgot about me, my seat belt mama!!" We were so relieved that at that age he realized the importance of seat belt safety, we calmly put the seat belt on our son and from now on he reminds us to "not forget to buckle him up" every time we get into the car.
@vickstick74 (49)
•
29 May 09
My 4 year old does that all the time. He won't let me shut the back door until I've buckled him in. He gets very upset if I forget. My son also wont let me drive off until everyone in the car is strapped in. Children are very persceptive and I am so glad for this. My son has an understanding of safety and that is wonderful.
