Why Don’t You Love Your Kids??

I admit that this is beyond me. Something that for the life of me, I just cannot understand.

I see it and yet I cannot believe it.

On nearly a daily basis I see children unrestrained, standing, jumping etc. in moving vehicles.

And, yes, I judge their parents.

One does not have to be a first responder or an ER nurse to know that seat belts are there for a reason, that they save lives, and that carseats are not optional.

I’ve seen a mother nursing a baby while driving ( yes traffic was slow but OMG!)

I’ve seen kids hanging out windows.

I’ve seen a kid on his knees, facing backwards in his carseat (unrestrained) next to an open window. When the father pulled up beside me, I could not get words out beyond sputtering and pointing in disbelief.

What the hell is wrong with people?

Don’t they love their children? Do they want to see them dead or worse, splattered across the road??

My husband and I have both confronted these parents who endanger their children. Mostly the response is silence or some excuse. Occasionally it’s a ‘what business is it of yours’, to which my husband replies that he’s the one who gets called to clean up the mess.

Rarely, but occasionally, is the acknowledgment, ‘You’re right’.

People, do I have to throw out statistics about how many kids die in car accidents?

Do we need to discuss the merits of seat belts?

Nothing is so important, nothing is that critical that you cannot take the time to buckle up your child. Even if he’s kicking and screaming.

Read the manual. Adjust the straps. Use the damn thing… or else walk!

And for the love of all that is holy and good:

PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE!!!