The great car seat debacle

Mable came to play on Sunday with the two children.  So we have Mable and I, a 4 year old, a 3 year old and a 16 month old.


It did alarm me slightly to see just how bossy my daughter is with smaller children and also, how the smaller children just lap it up.  I am hoping it is normal and just a phase and no reflection on who her mother is!!


So after various activities and generally destroying the house we decided to take the kids to the park.  Feeling environmentally friendly we decided we would all go in one car, no problem.


Little D is normally in the front of my car but decided, naturally she wanted to go in the back.


So all three kids are in forward facing car seats, not booster seats but proper car seats.


Car seats are big.  You can fit two in the back of my saloon easily but three?  really?  It has three seats in the back and three seat belts but each car seat is slightly wider that the space in the car...


So we move Little D's seat into the back, Mable gets her two seats out of her car and transfers them into my car.


Put seats into my car.  OK seats in fine, but, once children get into seats the fun begins.  Cannot do seat belts up due to the seats being all wedged together, there is no room to get your hand down the side with the seat belt and clip it in.  And of course they do that irritating thing in that the more you try and push it in, the more the catch pushes further into the seat......like it is trying to run away........ arse.


So what ensued can only be described as farcical.


imagine, one leg in the car in the back foot well, one leg outside the car trying to keep balance, bum in air.    Holding seat belt and leaning in to try and clip it in, whilst leaning in, poor child with my boobs in their face, just sitting, not saying anything.


No success.


So Mable on the other side of the car leans in through the other back door and pulls one of the other seats towards her to give a gap for me to put the seat belt in.  Poor child in seat is now being chucked about from side to side. And still they make no sound.


Managed to do it - only another two to go!!  It must have taken twenty minutes, a lot of laughing, to the point of double over and crying, shrieking, swearing and door slamming but we eventually got all three of the poor things in the car.


So we went to the park, all got out OK and in record time.  But then of course we have the farce of getting them back in again.....  this time with my bum sticking out the car at the side of the road. Brilliant......