This is all reminding me of a long article (that I can’t find) about children left in cars—a potentially deadly situation. The article concluded that the major risk wasn’t so much neglectful parents as overwhelmed parents—they were using all their mental resources for normal life, and if their schedules were changed or their stress level was increased, the risk of forgetting a child in a car was increased.
I saw some suggestions for improving the odds of not making that mistake. One was to have a habit of clipping a string from the child to the parent when the child is put into the car seat. Another was before the child was born making a habit of circling the car and looking into it immediately after getting out.
My child has a specific car toy that always stays in the car. Whenever I leave the car for any reason and regardless of what I remember about who is where, I must check to make sure that toy is in the car seat.
This started after my wife read me an article about babies being left in cars and scared the shit out of us that it wasn’t crackeads to whom it happened but parents who thought they were sane and responsible just like us.
This sounds horrifying. How can people be that stressed? I would say, it is a clear sign to down-size: cut expenses in half, get an easier and lower paying job…
I find that for a lot of folks esp. in the first world downsizing sounds super hard. It isn’t actually. The basic trick is sharing a roof, like teaming up with a grandparent who lives in a paid and empty house alone. The next step is more social kinds of free entertainment, playing cards (using beans, not money) instead of cinema, and turning alcohol and similar habits into exercise obsessions. Also, learning to cook turkey well, in Central Europe at least a turkey high has about half the price of chicken or pork, not sure why.
This is all reminding me of a long article (that I can’t find) about children left in cars—a potentially deadly situation. The article concluded that the major risk wasn’t so much neglectful parents as overwhelmed parents—they were using all their mental resources for normal life, and if their schedules were changed or their stress level was increased, the risk of forgetting a child in a car was increased.
I saw some suggestions for improving the odds of not making that mistake. One was to have a habit of clipping a string from the child to the parent when the child is put into the car seat. Another was before the child was born making a habit of circling the car and looking into it immediately after getting out.
This one?
I’m not sure, but it at least covers a lot of the same ground. Thanks for finding it.
My child has a specific car toy that always stays in the car. Whenever I leave the car for any reason and regardless of what I remember about who is where, I must check to make sure that toy is in the car seat.
This started after my wife read me an article about babies being left in cars and scared the shit out of us that it wasn’t crackeads to whom it happened but parents who thought they were sane and responsible just like us.
Perhaps this one: Fatal Distraction by Gene Weingarten in the Washington Post.
This sounds horrifying. How can people be that stressed? I would say, it is a clear sign to down-size: cut expenses in half, get an easier and lower paying job…
I find that for a lot of folks esp. in the first world downsizing sounds super hard. It isn’t actually. The basic trick is sharing a roof, like teaming up with a grandparent who lives in a paid and empty house alone. The next step is more social kinds of free entertainment, playing cards (using beans, not money) instead of cinema, and turning alcohol and similar habits into exercise obsessions. Also, learning to cook turkey well, in Central Europe at least a turkey high has about half the price of chicken or pork, not sure why.