Freakin' Car Seats

When we moved to Colorado, the law was that you had to have a car seat or booster for a child under the age of six. When a child turned six, you were free from the hassle of car seats forever. My family was counting down the days. It was going to be a rite of passage, like the day we potty trained our last child and said goodbye to diapers forever. Gavin, our youngest, turns six on October 15th....just 17 days from now. Like I said, we were counting down the days. He is our last child who still requires a booster. Gage has been out of a car seat for a year.

Yesterday, Joi took Gage for his seven year old physical and the doctor informed us that they changed the law in Colorado as of July. A child now requires a car seat or booster until they reach 8 years of age. This means that we have to put Gage back into a booster and Gavin still has another two years before he will be free of a booster forever. It was a blow to us. Seriously??!?!? Two more years of freakin' car seats? We gave away Gage's booster to some friends last year. So, we have to buy a new booster for Gage. And we need to keep Gavin's for another two years and 17 days. Also, keep in mind that Gage is big for his age. At his physical yesterday, they determined that he is at the 96 percentile for his height and 86 percentile for his weight (although his BMI is still well into the healthy range). He's a big boy. I can't imagine him in a booster for another year. Are the powers-that-be going to keep upping the age for boosters until teenagers are still using booster seats? Or 20 year olds? "I'm sorry, Nana, I know you're 89 years old, but you need to be in a booster seat." Where do we draw the line? I was excited to be free of boosters in a short 17 day period. But now, we have another two years and 17 days. Oy vey!!!!