CarseatBlog.Com

On October 30, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a press release stating that collisions with deer and other animals spike in November. Two days later, on November 1, my sister hit a deer with her car. Fortunately, she and her husband were both wearing their seatbelts, and both came through the crash unharmed. (Their Geo Prizm wasn’t so fortunate.)

What can you do to survive an encounter between your vehicle and one of the five North American deer species? Common sense is key. Read the rest of this entry »

We both reside in Orange County, NY and we both care about the children in our local community!  This past weekend Orange County Choppers hosted a child safety event at their world headquarters in Newburgh.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to work the carseat check portion of the event.  I had no one to watch the kids and the weather was really lousy all day so I didn’t want to take them with me (it was outside).   I was really bummed out about not being there for the check but I still managed to get a light blue OCC “Fan Club” T-shirt in a youth kid size that I’m offering up as a give-away.  I realize this isn’t anywhere near as good as a $43 MA but at least you can count on actually getting this “prize” if you win.  All you have to do is be the first person to guess the right number of CRs that were checked at that event and you win!  One guess per person.       

Note to Marvin’s loyal and devoted fans:  Marvin is taking a much-deserved break today but he promises to be back next week!  ld safety event at the OCC world headquarters in Newburgh 

A Britax Marathon in Granite for $42.99 and Free Shipping?!

A Britax Marathon in Cowmoo for $59.99 plus $18.09 Shipping???

 Both From Target through Amazon.Com! 

(You might have to click on “More Buying Choices” to see the offer from Target.Com).

Might be a bargain, might be a mistake.  They make great gifts, and if you buy by clicking our links, it’s a nice gift to Carseatblog.com, too!  Better hurry, I’m guessing supplies won’t last if it’s a real deal and if not, the mistake will be corrected quickly!

In my last blog entry, I begged the CR manufacturers to design some new, slimmer  seats and to consider bringing back some of the older designs that worked so well for us in the past.  Many of you responded, supporting this request.  And quite a few people mentioned the old Fisher Price seats.  The ”real” FP seats.    

I spent some time last night reminiscing about the old FP seats and how much I loved them.  Read the rest of this entry »

Are you tired?  Frazzled?  Out-of-sorts?  You must be a working mom!  Working moms really have a rough life and I don’t mean that facetiously.  I consider myself a SAHM for the most part, but I do volunteer heavily for my local Safe Kids coalition.  I’m their volunteer and membership coordinator, web master, newsletter editor, and I’m an instructor on top of all that.  There usually isn’t a week that goes by where I’m not emailed at least daily about something SK related or called upon to attend an event (I feel obligated to attend as many events as possible, not only to keep my skills up-to-date, but also to set a good example as volunteer coordinator and instructor).  Some weeks, like this week, all of those duties assert themselves and make me wonder why I ever got involved in the first place.  When I have to help teach a class, it typically takes the better part of 3-4 full days.  Fortunately, we only teach 2-3 classes per year.  Ah really, I shouldn’t complain; I like the people I work with at my coalition.

Read the rest of this entry »

Skinny is back in demand - that is, if you’re a carseat or booster.  Unfortunately skinny is also hard to come by these days and that’s a real problem.  In a time when Americans are downsizing their vehicles in droves -  increased laws and awareness are keeping more and more kids in CRs longer.  The combination of these two factors is creating a real space problem.   Read the rest of this entry »

We order stuff online.  A lot.  Things go wrong.  You get the wrong item, it’s defective, you change your mind, whatever.  You call, they ask for your name or phone or credit card number, then you return or exchange it in 5 minutes.  Many times, you can take care of it easily online with a few clicks. Worst case, if it’s your own dumb fault, maybe you pay a restocking fee.  Maybe you have to make two calls or it takes 15 minutes and is a little more difficult.  99% of the time it’s only a minor hassle.

It’s that 1 out of 100 times that takes 60 minutes or even longer to do something that should take 5 or 10 minutes.  I’ve had bad service.  Representatives who are clueless.  Some who just aren’t nice.  I’ve dealt with the huge companies like Amazon.Com and Apple.  I’ve dealt with tiny manufacturers and retailers.  Of all of them, only one company stands out as having routinely horrible service. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, Marvin is accused of being a cheapskate.

“Dear Marvin.  I’ll get straight to the point.  Your giveaways have not included a single carseat.  Kind of odd for a place called CARSEATblog, isn’t it?  In fact, not a single giveaway above like 30 or 40 bucks at most.  What gives?  I mean, you’ve been at it for a few months now.  You must be rolling in cash from advertisements.  You’ve been begging for big time sponsors and giveaways to the point of being pathetic.  It’s really sad.  I mean, Kecia and Heather are such great writers, but they can pull Darren’s and your weight for only so long.  Carseatblog is good, but it would be a lot better with some BIGTIME giveaways.  Seriously, I see all these other general parenting websites giving away carseats and strollers.  Some are blogs that aren’t even dedicated to these products and don’t get a fraction of the readers that Car-Seat.Org does.  Step up to the plate and SHOW US THE CARSEATS! - Signed, Desperate Dahlia.” Read the rest of this entry »