Grandparenting tip: When all else fails, listen to the 4-year-old
Kristin and I have owned exactly one brand-new vehicle in our nearly four decades together. It was a zippy, little two-door Pontiac with a stick-shift and a hatchback. I can still remember that luxurious new-vinyl smell and the way all the buttons, knobs, door handles and window cranks were present and operable. Compact and fuel efficient, it was a blast to drive, and we were certain it would last us for the next 10 or 20 years.
Eighteen months later Baby Charlotte arrived, and after just a few weeks of wrestling her safety seat in and out of the tiny bench behind the driver, we ditched the coupe for a 10-year-old, eight-passenger station wagon. Even though there were more doors and plenty of seats available, strapping in the safety seat still seemed to require two brains, four arms and a fusillade of choice words at every outing.
Fast forward 30 years or so and the march of progress has brought parenting to the point where the safety seat pops right out of its backseat docking station and instantly transforms into a stylish stroller — all of this with no more effort than the push of a button! With the exception of the disposable wet wipe, this may be the greatest baby-related invention of all time.
While pulling overnight duty with our grandkids last week, Kristin and I were handed the keys to the young family’s SUV, replete with safety seats for all. And while we have previously shuttled the boys about on numerous occasions, we had yet to deal with their baby sister’s seat-become-stroller contraption. Still, being the reasonably experienced grandfather and well-seasoned modern man that I am, I sought no advice or guidance from the daycare staff as we exited for the car. I mean how complex could it really be?
I struggled for a full 10 minutes trying everything I could possibly imagine to collapse the stroller into its folded and “dockable” alter ego while Baby Sadie looked up at me with a concerned furrow above her normally joyful eyes.
“Papa, all you have to do is push the button,” offered the 4-year-old James, who now harnesses himself in like a stock car driver in mere seconds.
“Thank you, James,” I politely growled. “I strongly feel that I am, in fact, pushing the button, yet nothing is happening!”
Kristin suggested I wheel the contraption, baby and all, back into the daycare to ask the staff for help. Totally out of options, I gulped my pride and did just that. The situation proved less embarrassing than anticipated as the effort ultimately required the dedicated efforts of two additional adults guided by two separate step-by-step instructional videos found on YouTube. Ironically, all we really had to do was “push the button,” just as James had instructed, with the additional caveat that it had to be the correct button!
Rather than risk not being able to fold the thing up again, I actually carried the collapsed stroller containing Baby Sadie, still staring at me with an expression of cautious doubt, all the way back to the car and snapped it into the dock to rousing cheers.
I may be older than I think and more stubborn than I’ll ever admit, but I’ll be doggone if I’m going to be outwitted by a baby seat!
Kristin and John Lorson would love to hear from you. Write Drawing Laughter, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627, or email John at jlorson@alonovus.com.