"Necessity is the mother of invention" is an old English proverb. This proverb is never more true than it is with parenthood. Parents are geniuses. When parents have to do too many things at once (which is all the time) they invent something to make their lives easier. Inevitably they also pass these inventions onto other parents that are struggling with the same thing. There are so many things that we can point to as examples of all of this. Car seats, baby swings, bouncers, walkers, and even sippy cup technology have all been improved through the ingenuity of amazing parents. These parents knew they could do it better and so they did. They saw a problem and created a solution because that is what parents do everyday.
Car seats have become an amazing place to witness these innovations. The first car seat was invented in 1962. This was long before they were required for car riding tots. I remember in the 1980s my parents had one car seat between 3 children under the age of 4. Rarely was my youngest sister the one using the safety seat because my brother and I saw it as a toy. Once car seats became a requirement by law parents went to work on improvements. Children's car seats became lighter and safer almost in the blink of an eye. In the last eight years they have made better clicking anchors and even removable cup holders for easy dishwasher cleaning. Safer and more convenient should be the motto of all parental ideas.
Babies have always been the most demanding of creatures so finding a place to put the baby has always been a great help to all parents. Swings, Walkers, Mats, Bouncers, Boppy Pillows, and Bumbos just to name a few baby contraptions. Not to mention baby wearing such as backpacks, slings, and wraps that all give parents the much needed use of their hands back. These tiniest of demanding humans have inspired so much creativity among their larger adult counterparts. Parents still need to get things done so freeing up our hands and having a safe place to put the needy wee babe is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
When I only had one child I bought fancy sippy cups. At the time I thought, this is a good investment for my future kids. Oh how I was wrong. Speaking as a mom of 3 crazy girls, sippy cups did not stand the test of time. They get gross, or kids lose them and they start growing stuff. I can't even count the amount of times I have run them over with the car or the stroller. Not to mention those genius parents have also majorly improved on sippy cup technology. They now have these amazing new sippy cups can be drunk from of all sides. The first time I saw a child drink out of one of these cups it seemed like witchcraft. The sippy cups from 8 years ago look like they were made for cavemen in comparison.
I look forward to seeing the new things that parents create. Already they have designed swings and bouncers that can be controlled with a cell phone. Maybe flying seats will be next so parents no longer have to hurt our arms and back from leaning down to pick up our little joys. Or a never crumby car seat. Or a sippy cup that automatically refills and never spills. Expect no matter how many things parents invent I am confident that kids will always find a way to make a mess. My kids are under the impression that it is their job to always cause chaos and unfortunately no amount of ingenuity can fix that messy dilemma.
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