Parents let their kids sit on their laps and "drive" all the time, right? So it shouldn't be a big deal that a father in North Carolina hoisted his 2-year-old onto his lap and let the little boy "steer" them home, right? Well, hmm, that's up for debate.
When my dad let me sit on his lap and drive when I was 3 or 4, it was from the driveway into the garage. This couple thought it'd be cool if they let their son take the wheel on a two-lane highway, in the rain. They also thought it'd be tops if they took video of it all and posted it on Facebook.
That was not some stellar decision making. Besides the fact that they put their son in danger by letting him ride outside of his car-seat, they shared a video of their bold choice on social media. That's what gets me.
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Parents have to weigh a lot of options. Do they want to listen to a hissy fit for an hour, or give in and let the kid have a second cookie? Do they want to let them cry it out, or let Junior sleep with mommy and daddy? Do they want to share a cool experience "driving" together, or play it safe and keep everyone buckled up?
Moms and dads balance (what seems like) hundreds of these options every minute. Sometimes they make good choices, sometimes they make terrible ones, but if there are more positives than negatives, they're doing a pretty OK job.
However, it gets tricky when you expose, or brag about, one of those weak parenting moments. This N.C. couple, although they supposedly now regret their choice to let their toddler drive, took to Facebook to boast that their boy's a great driver, lol, and, well, that's not good.
You're allowed to make bad decisions as a parent (for the most part), but common sense should stop you from sharing those not-awesome decisions with the world. Because once someone starts taking pride in their poor choices, that's when you have to begin to worry.
What do you think?
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Comments 42
My parents never did this with any of us kids when were were children. I didn't even know this was common until now as an adult. I heard of it a few times in my childhood but I thought they were the minority. It was with the neighbors' kids.
o gawd who cares, he isnt actually driving he is in his parents lap! I do it with my son on my street all the time, I am in complete control and on an empty road get over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes the dad is still helping with the steering wheel. And yes, it is still dangerous, because "what if" they had gotten hit head on? "What if" they had ran into a ditch and flipped the car. YES it was dangerous. YES it was stupid. BUT they DIDNT get hurt. And they admit now that it seemed stupid.
Damn, get off other peoples backs. Had something bad happened, and the parents lived they would have gone to jail for making that dumb decision. But seriously, they didn't cause any harm.
Not that I'd do this with my (almost) two year old.
This is dangerous, and for everyone saying "they do this all the time" you really should rethink doing it.God forbid their car could have hydroplaned on the highway in the rain, if that was to happen they could easily lose control of the car and wreck. If the airbag was to go off, that would kill the child or severly injury him. Not to mention 30lbs of weight being thrown into your chest with the pressure from the airbag could kill the adult as well. So this was incredibly stupid and dangerous to do on the HIGHWAY in the RAIN!!
He's not really driving. True, he shouldn't be out of his car seat, but he's NOT driving! And these idiots should NOT have posted this to FB. Good lord.
we have carseat laws for a reason, its to protect the child