This is a review post see here for more information.
For years now we’ve been playing ‘Car Seat Tetris’
It started way back when the twins were born, when we had to fit two reversed baby seats into my little red car and still be able to fit behind the steering wheel in order to drive.
Even when we upgraded to the Big White Bus it was still a matter of wedging car seats in so that split fold seats could open and fold to get kids in and out of the back.
And have you ever played that fun bonus level where you blindly dig your hands down between two car seats in the hope of doing up a seat belt. I can’t tell you what disgusting things I have found while digging around in the great void between car seats! I should be getting a huge bonus score for putting up with that!
Add to that, the extra level of difficulty in figuring out the car seat laws each time they change and whether the seating arrangements you have currently fit with the new rules and regulations… or even what the actual rules are.
It seems we have been trying to get a decent score in Car Seat Tetris for a long, long time. And really, when it comes down to it, all we want is for all those little blocks to align and the lights to flash and the music to play so we know our kids are as safe as possible when they are in the car.
So we were about to level up yet again as Noah is finally growing too tall for his reversible baby seat. He needed to go into a toddler seat with a four point harness, and the only one of those we have is the old Maxi Rider that Morgan was using with a lap-sash seat belt. So do we buy Noah a new toddler seat, or do we look for something new for Morgan? Do we turn that l-shaped block right and hope it fits into the hole perfectly, or do we skip it and move on to the next thing? (tell me you are still with me on the Tetris analogy thing, yeah?)
Morgan is 5 and a half, and he is quite tall. He was already almost at the maximum height for the old maxi rider, and already too tall for the old boosters the girls’ used, so to keep him safely in a booster seat till he is at least seven, we decided we needed to look for something newer and taller for him.
So when Birtax asked if we’d like to review a car seat I said a huge YES…. but only if it was the tallest booster they had! Enter the Safe-n-Sound Encore 10!
This booster is tall. They say it will still fit your average ten year old… which hopefully will mean my tall 5 year old will be able to stay in it till he is at least seven or eight. That alone sold me… but Morgan was sold on the fact that it has a cup holder with space for a snack, and he can do up his own seat belt!
The Encore 10 is not a narrow seat, in fact you can increase the width of the side wings and the length of the seat which is rather nifty, but it’s shape means that where the seat belt plugs in there is a clear space so you can get your hand in and see what you are doing.
Morgan is rather pleased to be able to get himself in and out of his seat, and I can’t tell you how much easier it is not to have to walk around to the road side (he has to be on the driver’s side so there is still access to the rear for the girls to get in and out on the other side.) to undo or do up his seat belt. Now he can climb in and out from the safe passenger side and do himself up! That saves me a while 10 minutes every trip I reckon!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Bow down before the Car Seat Tetris Master!!!
Did you know that you can play Tetris free online?!? Just in case all my Tetris talk has given you a hankering for those little coloured squares :)
Win a Safe-n-Sound Encoure 10 Child Booster Seat!
This competition is now closed. Congratulations to the winner Megsy.
If you need to level up in the game of Car Seat Tetris you could win this great booster seat. It has great safety features, a cup holder, and it’s taaaalll!
To enter leave a comment on this post and tell me what computer game translates to your real life and why. The most creative, funny or interesting answer will win the Encore 10 booster seat. This competition is open for a week, so get in quick, entries close next Saturday.
Terms and Conditions.
You must be an Australian resident to enter.
You must provide a valid email address and entries are limited to one per household.
Entries close Saturday Feb 9th 2012 at 12 midday AEDLST. The winners will be contacted by email and announced on this post.
Winners must contact me within 4 days or the prize will be re-drawn.
Winners agree to have their contact details passed on to the appropriate PR company or brand representative who will send out/organise the prizes directly.
{disclosure: We were given one Safe-N-Sound Encore 10 Child Booster Seat to try and keep. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. The opinions expressed are purely my own and those of my children. IMAGES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES ONLY – PRODUCT SHOWN WITHOUT SLIDEGUARD IN USE}
Angry Birds-
Our life resembles the game Angry Birds. We have 3 small children and when we had our last baby, we had 3 children under 3 and a half!
Now our oldest is 5 and has just started school this year, with our middle child at 4 year old kinder and our 2 year old baby.
Everymorning is like a battleground at our house. I get up, make beds, make lunches, put TOYS away (AGAIN!!!) dress kids (sometimes 3 times in our youngest’s case as he likes to take his clothes off alot!) get kids fed then finally have a shower!!
After a quick duck under the shower head I emerge to find the pantry door open and cereal on the floor (thanks to Archie our youngest). Walk up to our bedroom and find most of my high heels pulled out and being worn by Isabella (our oldest). There are shoes everywhere because to get to the ones she wanted she had to pull all of my other shoes out!
And lastly I walk into the living room where I put yesterdays washing, that I folded last night ready to put away today, and find it spread around the room beacuse Charlotte our middle child thought it would be ‘fun’ to ‘jump’ into a soft pile of clothes!!!
So you see, I have 3 angry birds in my house (although they are gorgeous and loveable and we would be lost without them) that love to ‘demolish’ most of the rooms in our house and the quicker they do it the better! (or so they seem to think!)
Planning on having a bit of tetris car seat fun when bub number 2 arrives in July!!
Angry birds. That is all.
Good old fashion pac man…………………remember that game. Yum yum yum instead of dots to gobble up I gobble up things on my list, washing, cooking, cleaning, school run and most importantly playing and more playing. The list goes on and then every now and again that damn ghost gets me and back I go to the start. I pick myself up dust myself off and off I go gobbling…..gobble gobble gobble!
Backgammon. Because my partner won’t play it with me because he says I’m too competitive.
So maybe I do shout at the computer & accuse it of cheating … :D
Cluedo :) I constantly trying to put together the clues to find out which of my 3 kids or childlike husband made the mess!
Mmmmm, lets see, I would LIKE to say that the computer game that I most identify with is Finding Nemo, As there is nothing more that I would love right now that’s to be floating along admiring all the colours of the ocean, but alas my life at the moment is more like combination some version of the Sims as we have moved house this week and getting to know people and places and that old one called Boxed In, as we have boxes three high in every room of the house! ( that’s hit happens when you move from a 6 bedroom to a 3!) Oh, I also feel like I an running a cafe in CafeLand as I feel like I am NEVER it of the kitchen either! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Missile Strike…I have to protect my base from the asteroids.
Base = family. Asteroids = all sorts of crap life throws at us.
Do you remember Pong… this most often describes the smell in my car, when i find those little treasures rotting between the car seats! I have a very tall, red headed girl, almost five who is desperate to have a new car seat.
Motherhood makes me feel just like I am PAC-Man.
Walking around in a maze (or a daze?), constantly picking things up!
Sometimes there are people I just want to avoid..
And each new day begins with a slightly different challenge to navigate our way through.