Even though my eldest son is about to turn 15, and will be learning to drive himself soon (gulp), I can still remember buying his first car seat and getting ready for his #firstride – the one where we brought him home from the hospital.
Oh my goodness – the stress! I was so nervous about, well, everything involved in becoming a new mom, but when we learned that we wouldn’t even be allowed to take our baby home from the hospital without a properly-installed car seat, my stress level reached its peak.
And I live in Los Angeles, one of the car capitals of the world. I can’t imagine if I lived in New York City, where most people don’t drive or own a car and often the #firstride home from the hospital for baby is in a taxi.
I don’t know about you, but many of the rides I’ve taken in New York taxis have meant very close brushes with death, and the thought of my baby being in one of them – and without a car seat even - makes me break out in a full sweat.
Enter Mitsubishi with their Outlander #firstride safety program, offering some very safe vehicles to new parents for that all-important first ride home from the hospital.
Instead of making the journey home through the streets of New York City in a taxi – an experience that does not legally require a car seat – the parents participating in Mitsubishi Motors’ “First Ride” event opted for a ride home from the hospital with their new bundles of joy in a fully-equipped 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander – an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) highest-rated “Top Safety Pick+” vehicle piloted by professional drivers. Their touching personal stories have become a series of short web films that contrast the craziness of the streets of the big city, with the calm, precious moments shared between three newborns and their parents.
Mitsubishi also wants to make parents aware of how few child safety seats are not properly installed, and this I also know about from experience. To be as safe as possible, the seat needs to practically become part of the car – and trust me, that is not easy. My 6’2” husband would essentially stand on the child safety seat to press it into the back seat of the car as hard as possible while we strapped it in.
And there was a great local baby gear store that did a great side business in car seat installation, leaving us feeling so very secure about the safety of our babies we were happy to give them our money every time we needed them.
Bringing my baby home from the hospital is one of my best memories about being a Mom. It was the real start of our life together, in my view, since the hospital does not resemble my real life. I had picked out a super cute outfit for my son, since I knew we’d be taking photos! And my Aunt had made a special welcome message for us when we walked in the door. And I can barely believe he was ever that little!
All parents probably have a #firstride story so let’s hear your in the comments!
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