Learning the new rules of the road...caring for your grandchild in 2009

Yesterday, my son called me from his car. He was getting his baby car seat inspected in preparation for taking baby Matt home from the hospital. I had no idea what he was talking about or where one would go to do such a thing.

When he was a baby, you bought a car seat, installed it, and you were good to go. Some people didn’t buy one and held the baby in their arms while being driven home from the hospital.

As a new grandmother, I faced my first, “I didn’t know that” moment before I made a mistake. Lucky me. But, it made me realize something very important. Sure we raised our sons and daughters, so we think we know what to do with our grandchildren. But, years of research and technological advancements haven proven that we may not know the better or acceptable way to care for our children’s children.

I know you can google anything and find an answer, but you have to know the question first.  In the case of the car seat, I never would have thought to check into it.

We cannot assume anything…we have to be willing to listen and learn.

And, if you’re wondering where to get a child safety seat inspected, check with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

I’d love to hear some of your “I didn’t know that” stories, so send them along to jangelich@gmail.com, and I’ll share them in a future column.

Talk to you soon.