Grandparents: Ask the Parents Before You Buy

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Written by Sharon Couto

Friday, 11 July 2008

There is one simple rule about being grandparents that my husband and I live by: ASK FIRST. As in, ask the parents of the child or children before you make what I call "big" purchases such as cribs or beds, highchairs and boosters, swings, portable and stroller systems and car seats. These are items that parents most likely want to research for safety concerns, best fit in their homes or cars, or just plain old preference and taste.

A perfect example of the ASK FIRST rule happened just yesterday as my husband and I thought about (I can't even believe I am saying this) "surprising" our daughter with the purchase of car seats for my new car. The concept sounded simple enough... if my car has car seats, then the need for juggling and belting and changing car seats from car to car would be eliminated.

My husband and I headed to our local "kid" store and began our surprise. As we stood before dozens of car seats, we quickly knew that we were out of our league. I will come to our own defense a bit here, just to remind ourselves that when our kids were kids, car seats were few and far between. I have a hard time even imagining such a time, but it was what is was.

But luckily for us, a very friendly and well-informed employee soon came to our rescue. He explained all about height and weight restrictions, safety requirements, comfort, costs, and all the little "amenities" such as extra padding, cool colors, cup holders, arm rests, head rests, etc. We poked at the display car seats. We picked them up. We tested the arm rests. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the totally cool and awesome color choices.

We made decisions. We changed our minds. We said, "Let's just get the top-of-the-line ones." Then we said, "But do the kids needs all the extras?" We asked the clerk more questions. We walked around the store. We returned to the car seats.

Then we made the best decision of all. We called our daughter. Within a minute or two of conversation, she had given us the exact models, colors and sizes that she uses in her own car with her own 4 kids. Simple enough? Yes! My husband and I left the store with our car seats, our sanity and our promise to never forget our one simple rule: ASK FIRST!

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