Car seat

The new new thing, when Gordon was born, was the infant car seat. Although not required by law at that time, we were diligent in using the car seat, first the infant-sized one, and then the upright.

One day while I was driving through Scottsdale in the Bronco (yes, we had a blue-and-white Bronco for a brief period), Gordon seated next to me in the car seat, he reached over and opened the passenger door. I don't know how I managed it--the Bronco was huge--but somehow I reached across and caught the door before it swung wide into traffic. I believe that was when we started putting the car seat in the center of the back seat, away from all such temptations.

As Gordon grew older and graduated to a toddler seat, he noticed that I didn't wear a seatbelt. He decided, then, that he didn't have to wear one either, since he was too big for a baby seat. I quickly developed a habit of wearing a seatbelt, which has sustained me through more than one accident.

With Gordon, we learned unequivically that we had to practice what we preached.