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May 5, 2011

Onward, Forward


The other day we were driving through town...
And we stopped at a signal
behind this little car
with two little guys sitting in their car seats
both facing backwards.
(I notice little ones a lot lately since I'm gonna
be a grama!)

I know the debate as to whether
kids should be facing forward, backward,
front seat, back seat has been going on a long time.
Well, the debate wasn't going on when my kids were little.
As long as they were in one, no one cared.


And when I was little, no one cared at all!
I used to sleep in the back window.
And when we were really strapped for room...
Mom used to tie us to the top of the car!
(Well, that might be an exaggeration...)

We are much more concerned for child safety today.
And that's a good thing.
But what about the psychological implications
of making a child spend the first few years of his life
FACING BACKWARDS!
Does this not concern anyone?

I heard Brian Regan one time talk about vacations
from the back of a station wagon with a reverse seat.
I can relate to that cause we had one of those.
Since I was little, I always sat back there.
Yep, that was us.
Brian says it's a totally different vacation from those
in the front seat. (Yeah, I used that in my last blog!)
That's true.
You wave at everyone in the cars behind you
until they pass you cause they're sick of you waving at them.
When you get to the next truck stop
your Mom wants to know why it seems everyone
in the restaurant is giving you dirty looks.

Life is about going forward, not backward.
"...but this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before."
Right?!
But those little guys are watching the world go by
backwards...
Can't be healthy.

We walk forward,
drive forward,
(which brings to mind...race forward),
plan forward,
time goes forward.
And they're doing everything backward.
Somehow, it seems to me it must warp
their little minds.
Just a thought...

Yours truly,
Lisa Hoover
President of Gramas Against Going Backwards

3 comments:

  1. OK....I too was a child that LOVED riding in the back of our station wagon in the seat that faced the back window. I loved it because I could see what was coming at me from behind. I loved being able to relish in and take in the sights that the rest of the family just got a glimpse of. I could look at it a lot longer. I didn't wave at a lot of people unless they waved first, but it was fun and exciting to me. I don't feel like I went "backwards", I just had a different view than the others in the same vehicle.

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  2. Focus lisa; we look back at when we were young, when the kids were young; remembering how strider jumped in the water to fetch; we BACK off from an arguement. I remenber when I was back in Idaho and Montana enjoying the beautiful people and countryside.I remember Alex singing in the isle of Heron Babtist Church(tears.) Better BACK UP and rethink that Lisa. I remember BACK when I found my Love. Matt

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  3. TIME OUT GUYS !!! Seems like there is a difference between going backwards and remembering back when.My exciting time of riding in the back seat was in a boat observing the water skier --- making sure he/she went forward safely.My turn next !!! SPLASH.

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