WHAT is wrong with people

My youngest is sick, so I took the girls to my MILs today. My BIL drops his tiny 6 year old off there every morning and my MIL takes him to the bus stop. He pulled up at the same time I did this morning and my nephew jumps out of the front seat of his quad cab pick up, wasn't even wearing a seat belt. Yes, he heard an earful from me at 6:30am.

I just don't get it. He KNOWS better. I am constantly preaching to him, but he just doesn't get it. He's one of those "I never rode in a car seat and it's only a 5 minites drive" people. I have showed him videos, given him information. Nothing gets through to him. Timmy is 6 years old and weighs 42 pounds. I would be happy to see him a BPB (in the BACK seat) at this point. I told him he could get pulled over for having him in the front seat and his response was "it's still dark out - no cop would even see him". He's right. The kid is so small you can barely see him sitting up front in that big truck.

I hate to give up on him, but it's obvious that it's never going to change. It's so discouraging.

Amy

My exmil was the same way, she talked about how they never had to use seatbelts and carseats, but she had a sister that when she was about 5 actually fell out of the car while it was moving and is now very slow developmentally, almost mentally handicapped. And yet she was still driving her granddaughter around in the car with the infant seat just sitting on the seat.

My MIL is that way so instead of giving her anymore info I finally just said my way or no way. You will put the seat in this way, you will put the boys in the seats this way, and the straps will be this tight. These are MY children and you will follow MY rules or they will not go anywhere with you. Unfortunately that won't work if the child in question isn't yours. Maybe just asking if he cares about the safety of his child? As bad as that sounds I've guilted family members with asking it. Sure, the child is in the seat out of guilt and not because the parents really wanted to do it, but any reason is better than none.

MY IL's are the same way. My FIL said one day that it's just a ploy to make more money if they make people buy boosters. He figures since they had 9 kids and they all turned out okay that it's not needed. You should see how my SIL kids ride in their car. To top it off my SIL is the same way. I gave her my Cosco Summit because my nephew was riding in an expired seat. I explaned I wanted him safe and that he who is only 13 hrs older than my DD and is smaller than her is not safe in a booster, he is not even 40lbs yet for the minimum. They showed up the other day and here is the youngest in the Summit and my nephew in a booster, this is after I told her that I put DD back into a harness because she just isn't mature or safe enough. The straps were not even tight and I am sure the seat isn't in correctly. One day my DH was out at my IL's and my SIL put my DD in the car and didn't buckle up the bottom most important buckle because she complaned that it was to tight. My DH got almost all they way home and wondered why DD was slouched down, and was just amazed that his sister who's kids are the same age as ours didn't know how to work the carseat. My DH should have checked her, but who would have thought, DD now will speak up if something isn't right about her seat. This is why my kids don't ride with anyone unless I put the seats in and put them in their seats, or take them myself. So frustrating, how can you be so relaxed about something like car safety.

Luckily, after many battles and my husband finally just laying down the law, my MIL and FIL are good with my kids. I install the seats and my FIL watches. He's even practiced installing them and had me double check in case he needs to get the kids in an emergency. My husband freaked out and threatened that they would never take her anywhere again when my MIL turned my 13 month old 18 pound daughter (who's now 4) FF in her car because she wanted to see her. My husband scared the crap out of her and she solved the problem by sitting in the back seat with her RF.

My BIL is a different story. Nothing I say sinks in. He did buy a backless booster to shut me up and to use in my car since I refuse to transport him anywhere without a seat. I still won't use that, though and usually put him in my CarGo, which I hate as a booster, but it still beats the backless one.

Amy

My sister is like that, thankfully my BIL's (dh's brothers) are pretty good. Last spring MIL needed to take Joyjoy with her for the day because I was ill, and BIL #3 (of 4) did a pretty good job of installing her seat in MIL's car - when I simply was not capable of moving.

amy919 said:

My youngest is sick, so I took the girls to my MILs today. My BIL drops his tiny 6 year old off there every morning and my MIL takes him to the bus stop. He pulled up at the same time I did this morning and my nephew jumps out of the front seat of his quad cab pick up, wasn't even wearing a seat belt. Yes, he heard an earful from me at 6:30am.

I just don't get it. He KNOWS better. I am constantly preaching to him, but he just doesn't get it. He's one of those "I never rode in a car seat and it's only a 5 minites drive" people. I have showed him videos, given him information. Nothing gets through to him. Timmy is 6 years old and weighs 42 pounds. I would be happy to see him a BPB (in the BACK seat) at this point. I told him he could get pulled over for having him in the front seat and his response was "it's still dark out - no cop would even see him". He's right. The kid is so small you can barely see him sitting up front in that big truck.

I hate to give up on him, but it's obvious that it's never going to change. It's so discouraging.

Amy

Click to expand...

He's right, if it is dark out the cops won't even know to look for an injured or dead 6 year old who has been ejected from the vehicle during an accident. Does the BIL wear a seatbelt himself? If he does, why does he consider his safety more important than his childs? I wish it was possible to reinforce your point by smacking him upside the head.

I have literally smacked him on th side of the head! I also threw the backless booster at him when he told me to use that a year ago. The kid was 5 and not even 40 pounds.

I wish I would have thought of that line this morning in response to his stupid remark about it being dark out.

And no, he never wears a seatbelt. Neither does his wife or her two kids.

amy919 said:

I told him he could get pulled over for having him in the front seat and his response was "it's still dark out - no cop would even see him". He's right. The kid is so small you can barely see him sitting up front in that big truck.
I hate to give up on him, but it's obvious that it's never going to change. It's so discouraging.

Amy

Click to expand...

Sadly, you just might.

I had added a bit here about it being too dark to find his body too, but JaRylan already said it.

At least they are an equal opportunity (to get killed) family!

I saw a woman leaving a school the other day. All dressed up in her business suit and properly buckled in. And her 6 yr old leaning on the front dash as she pulled out into traffic.

http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/.../CARSEAT.jpg&searchTerm=carseat&pageOffset=12
http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/...100_0112.jpg&searchTerm=carseat&pageOffset=17
http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/.../IMG_7024.jpg&searchTerm=carseat&pageOffset=4
http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/...R1-017-7.jpg&searchTerm=carseat&pageOffset=12
why can't people just get a freakin clue?!

Unfortunatley people suck. Those photos in the PP make me want to scream. There was a picture of an infant, and it looked like the mother still had her hospital tags on. Thankfully up here in Calgary, the nurses inspect how you put your infant in the car seat, and make sure that it is tight enough before you are allowed to take your baby home. You are not allowed to leave unless you have a car seat for your baby. Unfortunately, everyone seems to do what ever they want when they leave the hospital. Another picture had a little boy in a 3 point harness, and his feet were underneath the straps. This reminds me of a picture my parents have of me when I was in my bucket seat as a baby. Umm, what the point of having a car seat at all then? I do have to give my parents props though, because I don't know a lot of other parents who had their kids in car seats at all 26 years ago.
My MIL isn't perfect with the car seats, but she isn't as bad as every one else's seem to be. She also had her 2 youngest in car seats as kids after her friend's DD was thrown through the windsheild off of her mother's lap 26 years ago. After that accident she put my SIL in her 1st seat, and my BIL used it many years later as well. Thankfully my DH wasn't in an accident riding on his Mom's lap, as my life would be completley different if he had been in one. My MIL understands the importance of a car seat, and thankfully has always respected my decision to be a fanatic when it comes to them, and puts my DD in her seat the exact way that I would. (I always install the seats)