Safety first

OK I must warn you that this is mostly a vent to make me feel better...but that's what blogs are for right? I can't stand it when other people think that safety guidelines are just not important...especially when it comes to kids (mine in particular). When we first got pregnant with Melanie we got tricked into a sales thing that we thought was a safety convention on children's products. We did end up buying a GREAT crib and high chair because we liked how they were made. But my MIL laughed at us right away for spending extra money on the high chair and said that all her kids survived in their high chair even though it might not have been up to safety standards. This is the same person who tried feeding my kiddos anything and everything when I asked her to withold certain things and doesn't really use car seats as they should be used. I'm thinking that it's probably because when her kids were little they didn't have to ride in car seats and they didn't have as many guidelines about what babies should and shouldn't eat at certain ages. But my kids are my responsibility and it just bothers me that others don't apply to the same safety standards that I would like. The carseat issue is the HUGE one with me because car seats were invented for a reason and they have standards in how to use them for safety reasons as well. Wouldn't you want your grandchildren to be as safe as possible when they were in your care? Why put them in a car seat if you're not going to strap it right? I guess I could go on and on, but I'll stop now so you don't have to listen to me rant and rave forever ;)