Over the years, recommendations have changed for travelling by car with an infant or child. Here are some highlights which show how our thinking on the issue of public safety has evolved:
- 1909 – “The Royal Canadian Ministry for The Well Being of Livestock and Human Infants would like to remind parents that it is ill-advised to transport children in a motor-car by tying a rope around their waists and dragging them behind the vehicle. While a common practice in many provinces, this can result in injuries that would later deprive them of their ability to work as labourers. If there is no alternative transportation available, drivers are requested not to exceed 15mph.”
- 1929 – “The Royal Canadian Ministry for the Regulation of Automobiles would like to remind car owners that children should be discouraged from driving their parents’ automobiles until their feet can easily reach the pedals.”
- 1959 – “The Department of Health recommends that, when travelling by automobile, children are requested to remain in the back seat while the car is in motion, where they may roam freely and safely.”
- 1969 – “The National Transportation Safety Board in association with the Department for the Prevention of Negative Vibes would like to advise that a recall has been issued on macramé infant restraining devices.”
- 1979 – “Due to a number of recent accidents, The Department of Health would like to remind drivers of station wagons that children should not be permitted to roam freely in the back of the automobile if there are free seats. Additionally, for safety reasons, children should not be in the back of the station wagon if the driver is also transporting a case of glass Pop Shoppe bottles.”
- 1989 – “Health Canada would like to remind drivers that, if they are smoking in a car with children present, please crack the window open, weather permitting.”
- 1999 – “In the event the so-called Y2K bug results in the cessation of all electronic devices, drivers are cautioned against driving with children in the car on December 31.”
- 2007 – “Rear-facing car-seats should be used for infants until at least 12 months of age.”
- 2008 – “Make that 24 months.”
- 2009 – “They really should be in the car as little as possible. If you love your child, you’ll listen to us.”
- 2019 – “What the Hell are you doing? ! What did we just tell you? Here, just give us the baby. Jesus.”
“Greetings from the Shire!”
There is the very good possibility that we’ll be in full-on election mode this time next month. Now for political nerds like me, that’s fantastic but other Canadians aren’t as thrilled with the prospect.
“But we just had an election. I don’t want another so soon,” they whine as, halfway around the world, Iranians get arrested for wanting free and fair elections. “Besides, it might be cold that day.”
Oh, boo hoo. Suck it up. We voted a minority government, and the last day of the current campaign is always the first day of the next one. We can go at any time. Or we can go coalition government like we almost did last year. It’s all part of the process we agreed to. You want a four year gap between elections? Give a party a majority.
Except, it’s hard isn’t it? Nobody’s particularly jazzed about Stephen Harper as a prime minister nor Michael Ignatieff as Liberal Leader. Meanwhile, the BQ, NDP, and Greens are not budging in the polls in any meaningful way.
It’s actually as good a time as any for an election. The Liberals can only threaten to vote against the government for so long before they actually do it. And if you’re tired of the two main options, an election may be the only way to change anything. Look at the possible outcomes:
- Conservative majority: Ignatieff quits.
- Conservative minority: Harper and Ignatieff quit.
- Liberal majority: Harper quits.
- Liberal minority: Harper quits.
- NDP majority: Just kidding.
My predictions are usually wrong but I don’t think the Liberals are going to win this one and that may be better for everyone all around in the long run. So who would replace him? Well, you know how you weren’t all that crazy about someone when you knew them but then when they go away, you kind of miss them?
Somewhere in Hamilton, Sheila Copps sits in front of Newsworld, tents her fingers, and waits.
“I don’t have a lot of personal life experience, but if I have learned anything from my Sims family, when a child doesn’t see his father enough, he starts to jump up and down, and then his mood level will drop–until he pees himself.”
-Liz Lemon, “30 Rock”
Dear Bud Bud
One year ago, on a Sunday morning, I was sitting on the computer, going through my Google Reader, as your mother was enjoying a breakfast of leftover apple pie when you gave us a heads up that you were coming. And that was the end of our lazy Sundays for, well, ever.
Within an hour we were at the hospital and after several hours of false starts, you arrived at 2:27am, Monday morning, September 1st, 2008. And ever since then, I can say that we’ve been living in a post-9/1 world.
Despite all the warnings we were given about big babies, you came out completely average at 7 pounds, 6 oz. Did you know your pre-birth nickname was Hagrid? You lived up to it, of course when you quickly grew to a bigger than average baby and, so far, one with a happy disposition.
Your mother and I aren’t sure what we did to deserve such a good child. We’re certainly not the luckiest people in the world. So perhaps you’re here to make up for that.
Today, you can stand a little bit but you still can’t walk. However, you do think you can run and that means you fall down a lot and you cry, until we pick you up and hug you. You might have noticed we hug you a lot. It’s the first thing I do when you wake up in the morning, just before we open the curtains to find out what kind of day it is.
This coming year, you’ll be walking and talking more. You’ll fall down a little less and will say a little more than “mama”, “dada”, and “diaper”.
I can’t wait to see where you’ll go and to hear what you have to say.
You’ve done year one. Now, on to year two.
I love you,
Daddy.
Yahoo! has a list of some of the most clueless things people have said to pregant women. For example, “You must be having a girl—they say that girl babies steal their mother’s beauty”.
I’m pretty sure there’s a list out there of things people have said to mothers of young children as well. You know, those helpful hints doled out by strangers in a practice that has come to be known as “drive-by parenting”? Kerry can add a few items to such a list like, like being called a “damned welfare mother” by a passing old man. Or being admonished for feeding James a bottle in public because, as the woman put it, “it’s not the answer to everything”.
For the record – we are not on welfare. I have a job and Kerry is on extended Maternity Leave. We’re just brokity-ass broke all the time.
As a dad, though, I can’t say that I’ve had these experiences. More than likely it’s because women are still considered the primary caregivers so it’s rarer for men to be out in public with the kids on a weekday. When men are in the public with the kids, particularly when Mum isn’t around, we’re treated as heroes just for showing up.
We could be giving our kids Alec Baldwin’s speech from Glengarry Glen Ross and we’d still get a pass.
As you can imagine, the latest news to burn up the internet is the New Brunswick government’s decision to add a slogan to provincial license plates.
The Zen-like slogan in English is “be … in this place” and in French is “être … ici on le peut”. This would be the first time since the early 70’s that the plates have had a slogan. The plates can be viewed here. But be patient, the page may take a while to load to due to high traffic volume.
At the link to the CBC story, reaction to the plates has been mixed. Some people don’t like the colours. Some don’t like the font size. Others don’t like the two languages. Still others don’t like the choices given for the alternative conservation-themed plates. Others wished we could return to the days when the plates read “Picture Province”.
And to think I’m seriously considering a move back there.
“John Tries a Beer He Never Had Before: Part 4″
At the opposite end of the taste spectrum from Cracked Canoe is Dieu du Ciel’s India Pale Ale, Corne de Diable. This is a strong tasting, hoppy ale with a caramel flavour. This is something I’d enjoy slowly and at almost room temperature.
You also can’t argue with a label like that, created by Yannick Brosseau. Half the time I try something new, it’s because the art on the label catches my eye. Fortunately, eye catching beer labels are something we have in abundance in Quebec.
“John Tries A Beer He Never Had Before: Part 3″
While in New Brunswick, I sampled Moosehead’s latest offering: Cracked Canoe. The ads trumpet that the beer is brewed slowly. I’m not sure what that is supposed to do to the product. As a beer, it’s 3.5% alcohol, contains fewer than 100 calories, and almost no taste. Supposedly, it’s just Moosehead Light with less alcohol thereby creating some unwanted middle ground between low-carb beer and light lagers.
Other than a remembrance of a Moosehead product, it’s as close to nothing as I have ever tasted.
