Have you ever looked at the baby on board signs and wondered about them? I know that at several points in my life, I have – all of these were before I became a parent myself. But let’s take a step back for a moment and look back on those days before I was a parent – when the ‘on board’ sign became the noveau thing to do – everyone was getting in on the act. From the baby on board to the mommy to be on board to the dog on board – the signs didn’t quit.
I used to look at the signs and wonder beyond the advertising – so what? Now let’s flash forward – as a mommy I can think of plenty of reasons to advertise baby on board and why it’s important for other drivers to know that there is a baby on board.
New Levels of Worry
When we have a baby, we develop whole new levels of worry. We may not think about it immediately, but the first time we load our most precious cargo in the world in our cars, we suddenly become aware of everything – whether it’s the driver who forgets to use his indicator or the other driver who looks like they are trying to climb in the backseat with your son or daughter.
Seriously, how many incidences of appallingly bad driving have you witnessed since you first put your baby in the car? That said, a lot of parents invest in a larger vehicle after they have a child whether it’s a suburban sport utility vehicle or a minivan, because we want a tank around our babies to make sure that if some idiot does hit us – they don’t hit our baby.
Still, Baby on Board Means A Lot More
When we post Baby on Board on our car, we’re not just saying watch yourself, we’re also saying, watch out for us too. We’re sleep deprived and it’s probably medically questionable whether or not we should be operating heavy machinery. Of course, that sentence is WAY to long to fit on a yellow square.
The Baby on Board can also mean, be aware that there could be a screaming baby in my ear, a smell diaper and my arms don’t bend that way – so cut me some slack when I indicate my need to turn or change lanes. Don’t get me started on when they are old enough to drop things and want you to turn into a contortionist while driving to retrieve the lost item.
The Baby on Board can also mean, yes, I know the speed limit, but this is the right speed to keep my baby asleep and I am not flooring it to jar him awake. Baby on Board can also mean I pull up to the curb to load my groceries, pull the heck around me and get on with it. Oh and by the way, don’t lay on the horn – waking my kid up is seriously not going to get me to go ANY faster.
I don’t wonder what Baby on Board means anymore and I certainly don’t roll my eyes at the sign, instead, I just give it a thumbs up and give the driver their room – because I know what it is to be that sleep deprived and to have that baby in the backseat who desperately wants their food and their diaper changed and not necessarily in that order.
So – do you have a baby on board?
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