Why I'm Glad My Kids Are Already Grown

My son Phil was the first of our children to have children of his own, so I remember this incident vividly.  He and Deborah, with infant son Lennon in tow, came to visit us in Los Angeles.  Phil looked like a pack mule as he carried all the baby equipment into the house.  A car seat, a stroller, and Pack and Play were the main pieces of equipment, but there were also bags and bags of blankets, diapers, bottles, toys, and clothing. You'd think they were going to some far off land where there was no Costco or WalMart.  Since then, Brian and David have both traveled with their children, and both have brought similar equipment with them.  Did we travel that way with our children?  Absolutely not!

When we went somewhere with our kids we took an infant seat, a bucket like basket that infants could be shleped around in.  We also brought a big diaper bag, for food, diapers and clothes.  That was about it.  There were no car seats or Pack and Play's.  We'd hold the kids in our laps in the car, or as they got older just dump them in the back seat.  As for sleeping at night while we were away, we'd empty a dresser drawer, put down a blanket, and put the child to sleep.  No we didn't close the dresser drawer!

Rules and regulations have changed all this.  Children must be in a car seat until they weigh more than 60 pounds, usually around 7 years old.  That makes it pretty inconvenient for carpooling.  Each child has to have his own car seat, so this is a great inconvenience for parents.  When our kids got a little older and sat in a high chair, we just put them in the chair, then locked the front tray.  Today they need to be buckled up on the off chance that they might climb out.  The same goes for strollers, with elaborate straps across the chest and up the crotch, so that the child can't possibly get out.

Kids are safer today, but parents have a much more difficult time keeping them safe.  It seems we have so many regulations today.  There must be a happy medium.  I haven't even started on the  topic of how to raise the child.  Should they sleep on their back or stomach, should they take one nap or two, at what age should they start to eat solid food?  Parents have a difficult task raising kids in the 21st century.  I'll take the 1970's and 80's anytime.