09 Mar, 2008
a new car seat in the family
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Giveaways and product reviews
We have a pretty sad record as it pertains to car seats.
We bought the prescribed rear-facing one one when Emma was born. It was a gigantic heavy thing with big handle. Carrying it anywhere outside the car was absolutely backbreaking. And as luck would have it, for a time, rocking Emma inside it was the only thing that could get her to sleep. My vertebrae shudder just to think about it.
After that we stumbled into a variety of car seats, some of which were hand-me-downs. They were in decent shape so we always accepted them gladly. But they were okay, just okay. Like our change table and the umbrella stroller and some other baby-related accessories, they were okay, not great, but okay. We made do with these items, but they didn’t exactly light my fire, you know what I mean?
This was before I shaped my personal shopping theory: to buy only Those Things that are Most Beautiful and Awesome.
My babies haven’t been babies for a long time, but I’ve had ample opportunity to browse funky hip new baby stores and check out the new products on the market because of the writerly work I do. I actually feel wistful, because the stuff that’s out there nowadays is MUCH more “me,” than the products of yore. Baby products are now more in line with my sense of aesthetic than a lot of the stuff that was on the market nine (and even seven) years ago.
So back to our carseats. They were ordinary, run of the mill car seats that served their function well. It never really dawned on me that there was something with a little more oomph out there.
And then it arrived in the mail.
The people at Clek sent me Sarah a booster seat. Mind you, I am under no obligation to write anything about this car seat. In fact, if I had hated it – or hand any other issue with it – I would have said so, right here in front of all and sundry.
I had to laugh when I unwrapped it. I wasn’t exactly expecting the zebra print.
(You do realize I had to sweep a whole bunch of crap out of the back seat so I could set up this photo, right?)
The Clek has a special hooking up system (how’s THAT for technical writing?) called LATCH, which securely anchors the booster seat down into your car. We can’t take advantage of this feature because we drive an older model of car, but I have been assured that it can be used with or without the LATCH function.
Doesn’t matter. This booster seat is so slick and sweet I can’t help but like it. Sarah has had lots of time to try it out, and she finds it perfectly comfortable.
Proof once again that ordinary and useful things can be beautiful too.
