Susan noticed today that Val was too tall for the shoulder harness on
her seat in Susan's car. For rear-facing seats, the shoulder strap
should be at or below the child's shoulders but you have to move the
straps up as the kid grows. Val hadn't been in Susan's car in a while
so we didn't know that she'd grown quite this much.

We moved the straps up and went on our way. It wasn't until later that
I realized that Val may actually be too tall for the slot height she now
needs. Not all slots are reinforced for rear-facing. On this seat, she
needs the slots that are only made to forward-face.

Translation: we finally have no choice but to flip her seat around. But
only in Susan's car. In our car, she has different seats that don't
have this particular problem.

Nonetheless, I feel ill at the thought of turning her around when she
weighs 6 lbs below the weight limit.

I understand that part of my concern over car safety stems in part from
losing my dear friend Jos 20 years ago next week. She's not alive today
because she did not wear her seatbelt. It was an awful lesson to learn
when I was so young but it's stayed with me, kept me and my passengers
safe over the years. Now that I have such a precious little passenger,
well, I do everything I can to keep her safe.

Even if that means she rides forward facing in her Auntie's car. Sigh.