Please Help Save My T.....

[plonky]

As a father of two (3 & 4 - girl and boy) I can offer the following tips.

First have a car with a leather interior. (Both the Alfa & E320 were leather)

Secondly, cover the back seat with a picnic blanket.

Third, take their shoes off if their in the car for long periods (socks don;t scuff the back of the seats)

Four: Lock the rear windows.

Five: Plenty of toys

Six: If they have to eat, try and stop. If not you just have to remember to clean the car regularly.

Seven: Teach them to say "Ford good, Expensive Daewoo Boo!"

Good luck because they are definitely worth it.

The thing you have to really worry about is when they are old enough for bikes. Advise them, on pain of death, that bikes are NOT to be ridden near the car!

I remember riding my mini bike straight into Dad's Jag when I was five years old. Boy was I sore!!

[Falchoon]

  YCL said:

My problem is this, I have a 16-month-old son and another who is 2 weeks old, and they do not share the same respect for the car as I do.

Are any members with experience in these matters able to offer and tricks or tips? :idea:

That's why you have a boot.... :idea:

[DallasQLD]

Hey remeber its a Falcon................

Its not a Merc so even if they trash it it cant cost a ransom to replace the back seat!

On the other hand you can wrap em in glad wrap.

[Antisocial]

It was worth a try...

tongueboy, citric acid xr6t, ducatijb, you are all scaring me.

To all the others ...thanks.

I will give the big back seat cover a go. I got some big neoprene sheets to put under the baby seats to protect the upholstry, when I got the car.

I tried the no food rule but it is hard to make any kind of decent journey without...

But when they get old enough to reason with and comprehend the term WAIT I may be in with a chance.

I am tall and so is Jr so there is no way I can fit in the car with the seat far enough away from him to stop his kicking.

And yes, no matter how totally cr@p a day I have had at work it all just fades away when you see that happy face pressed up against the sliding door beaming back at me, and so pleased to see me when I get home. :D

[ktford]

YCL,

my kicker is just gone 2 & I'm 6'6 tall so she sits behind swmbo, our nearly 4yo sits behind me with his feet down like a good boy.

Scotty

[Cobra]

take "surface action", "remove sharp objects", "lock doors" and then DON'T LOOK BACK

[Guest catlike]

  YCL said:

I tried the no food rule but it is hard to make any kind of decent journey without...

Ya gotta make deals, although they are probably too young just yet.

I always had a deal with my kids - "you don't eat in my car and I won't smoke in it". Done a lot of long trips over the years, when you make a regular stop you smoke, drink, eat, go to the loo, or all of the above. The fact that I wouldn't smoke in my car anyway is a well kept secret :lol:

[XRCISM]

The answer is simple - ROOF RACKS!!!!

Stick 'em on the roof. No more worries about messing up the interior of the car and they will love it ....... just don't go under any low bridges!!!

[KittyKatSmack]

OK, considering I have zip experience with kiddie like things in my car..... and it will be staying that way!

I have seen somewhere that you can get things that hang over the back seat that are like interactive toy pocket play thingies....

No I can't make it clearer than that, I don't have the anklebiters so don't really go for that whole thing....

But isn't there something you can hang over the back seat from the headrest that will either

a.) keep kiddies occupied and maybe even take away the food component of keeping them quiet

b.) protect the back seat while you are at it?

It's either that or put the kicker in the middle of the car (can't kick doors or play with windows) or on passenger side as suggested so you can keep passenger seat too far forward to kick.

So glad I don't have this little problem :D

[aaronmihe]

*laughs* You poor bugger I have enough trouble keeping myself up to my expected standards....

The base rule woudl have to be seat coverings, a rug/blanket over the seat base double or triple folded. Perhaps the tailored covers from somewhere? And then still have the extra blanket on the base.

Other than that the seat back buddy things Kitty was talking about could be put in and 'padded' up with essentials liek extra tissues/wetones, a towel and so on. They'll still kick it but it'll be software and no whackign the true seat back.

And I suppose finally it would be to be a relaist and be preapred to gett eh leather on the door trims replaced in a few years if needed. It won't be mega $$ and give and instant lift.

Unfortuntely while I generally would say a "No Food" rule should be enforced sometimes it's not practical. Myself I don't eat in the car and mostly only drink water when driving as it's a easy clean up (unlike friut juice or Coke which has that wonderful proerty of making an entire car sticky with a single drop). Ofcourse the definaition of eating can be varied, I say snacks like chips/chocs/minites or similar small input items don't count as eating. I grew up out in Cobar and spent a lot of kms in the back of cars as a result of the location. I think my sister and I both learnt how to travel well, to not get stuff all over the car etc and all that pretty quick just becuase of the tedium and regularity of travel.

A.