I See Storm Clouds on the Horizon

Dear Darling Mother is going to be upset.

The new car seat law for Utah goes into effect May 4th.

Dear Darling Mother is going to be very upset.

Oh, yes, we do want our children safe and la-di-da. But the car seat law? It's a good thing Shanna is nine, and therefore exempt, or I'm sure Dear Darling Mother would have the state congress and the governor tell the skinny, short, highly ADHD girl that she now had to sit in a booster seat. We'd sit back with popcorn and watch the fun.

I'm glad all of us except Siri and Caiti are too old, or we all would have been in boosters until we were eight. I got teased enough in elementary school without having the added humiliation of being in a booster up until I was baptized.

It's not only the fact that my mother's children are all small and therefore would be subject to the law if not so old that I have a problem with. It's the fact that now we're going to need more car seats. We already need a new car - our biggest car has only nine seats, and the arrival of Caiti next month will put us up to ten people - so do we need to buy more seats as well? I mean, in the recent circumstances, twenty bucks can be the difference between my dad eating a real lunch as opposed to an apple and maybe some carrots every day. We almost had to go on a rice and potato diet for the next two weeks, and now we need to start saving up for the several car seats Siri and Caiti will need.

Couldn't we start small with this whole law thing? Like, say, actually enforcing the law already in effect? I was very angry several times at an old job because mothers would drive away with five- and six-year-olds playing around unbuckled in the front seat. If people aren't obeying the old laws, what makes you think they'll obey the new one? It only creates more annoyance, frustration, and possible money troubles for those of us who do care enough about our children to have them safely buckled anyway.

I guess that's what Siri will be getting for Christmas: a booster seat. When I'm giving my parents money so they can buy a few presents for my siblings, it's obvious that we can't get luxuries such as toys when we have new car seat laws to obey.