Ahhhhhh Friday. Hello. I needed you and you didn’t disappoint by showing up.
Let’s kick off the weekend with a little Week in Rant, shall we?
IN THE NEWS
I know the new big mommy thing in the news this week are the new recommendations from the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) regarding car seats. For those of you living in a bubble, here they are:
- The “rear-facing until two” is a guideline only. Young children who are very small, or born prematurely, may need to stay rear facing longer–until they outgrow the weight and height limits for the rear-facing carseat. And, kids who are big may outgrow the size limitations younger than age two and may need to be turned forward-facing earlier.
- Once a child outgrows the size limits of rear-facing, he should be forward-facing in a harness carseat until he outgrows that seat.
- You can check your carseat’s size limitations on the label or in the instruction manual. In general, convertible carseats are safe for rear-facing until a child weighs 35—45 lbs. Height limitations vary as well.
- Kids need to remain in booster seats until at least EIGHT years of age, or when they exceed the size limits for a booster and they are ready for a seat belt.
- Kids should not be riding in the front seat of a vehicle until they are at least 13 years old.
Are you ready for my opinion (you know I have one). These are RECOMMENDATIONS only. Not the law. We parents have to make a lot of decisions and usually look to the AAP as a guideline for making what we think is the correct one. Of course, in all my sarcastic glory, if you don’t follow these guidelines you are likely to be chewed up and spit out in disgust by the perfect mom community out there (you know who those people are… the ones who give you the stink eye in a store or restaurant when your child is acting out). As always, my advice is: do what you feel is best for your situation. I considered leaving Jack rear-facing until he was 2; however, he outgrew those limitations fairly quickly and we turned him around at a year in my husband’s vehicle and around a year and a half in my car. I don’t feel I need to justify our decision to anyone. I intend to keep him boostered until he exceeds the size limit and he will definitely not ride up front until he is 13. But, you know how it goes… he is two and a half right now. I’m sure my opinion (and the AAP’s opinion) will change a million times before then. Final thoughts on this subject? Settle the heck down folks. The cops aren’t going to pull you over if you turn your kid’s seat around before the age of 2.
GUILTY PLEASURE NEWS
I have made it no secret over my blogging years that I watch and love American Idol. The last few years have been a yawn though and seriously considered scrapping the sheer amount of time required to stay committed to the show until I realized how much I liked the new season. I LOVE J-Lo. I don’t know why, but I love her. She’s pretty to look at and she usually has decent, constructive criticism to offer. Don’t care for Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson just kinda fades into the background. I like the changes they made to the show letting the viewers get to know the contestants a little more and showing behind-the-scenes stuff. As far as the contestants, there are the usual few who for some reason are insanely popular yet I can’t stand their voice (ahem… Jacob Lusk). Last night’s episode was one of the best in a long time. Especially after they saved Casey Abrams and dude kept throwing down the F bombs. I always thought Idol would be so much better with more swearing.
HEALTHY ME JOURNEY NEWS
While my weight loss seems to have slowed a little (11.5 pounds gone over 12 weeks), I am losing at a rate of about .5 – 1 pound a week. I HATE that it is a slow process for me but at the same time, I know that this is a healthy, long term way to keep it off. However at this rate, my goal of losing 60 pounds seems insurmountable. I am still following the WeightWatchers program to the letter and am trying to make myself into a runner, which is kind of laughable but I am determined. I started Couch to 5K (thanks to the iPhone app, it makes it pretty easy to follow) and hope that it will be a slow and steady way to get me into it. I plan to do it first on treadmill and then, God willing, it will actually be warm enough for me to do the program outdoors (because yes, I am fully aware that running on pavement is completely different than a treadmill). My bridesmaid dress fitting is less than a week away and I am actually looking forward to it. I know that I have taken inches off my bod and it WILL need to be taken in. That was the first of many goals in this journey and I’m not going to lie: IT FEELS GOOD!!!
Thought I would show a couple pictures to highlight my progress. The top one is from early December 2010 (a month before I re-joined WeightWatchers for the eleventy-billionth time- I’m on the right). The bottom pic is from 2 weeks ago (again.. me on the right). My face has trimmed out- that is after only 11 lbs! I’m so excited to see pictures after I have made it to goal. Heck. I’m excited that I want pictures of me taken at all.
By the way… you can now join up with Mixed Bag of Rant on Facebook! Like it today and join in the rantilicious discussion!
http://www.facebook.com/mixedbagofrant
Have a beautiful weekend!!
