I don't know a site, but I do have a friend who is a certified car seat safety inspector. The guidelines for safety are: (note that these are not the same as what the law requires in your state - the law doesn't require you to do the maximum-safety options) - infants should face rear until they are BOTH 1 year old AND 20 lbs. (so if baby reaches 20 lbs at 9 months, he should still be rear-facing until his 1st b-day) - 20 lbs and 1 year is minimum, but that really is the safest way for baby to sit. If baby is still within the weight limits for the seat and will tolerate sitting backward, leave him rear-facing as long as possible. - for 20-40 lbs and >1 year old, baby/child should be in a forward-facing car seat - 40-80 lbs, your child should be using a booster seat, which usually doesn't have it's own restraints, its purpose is to properly position the adult seat belt on the child. Rather than using weight as a guide, you can also say that the child is ready to be totally out of boosters/car seats when the back of his/her knees hit the edge of the car's seat properly - i.e. his legs don't stick out when seated upright against the seat back. My friend and the police officer who did our safety inspection also said that there is *no significant difference* in the safety quality of the car seats available today. All have to meet certain requirements to be sold at all and the different prices are simply a function of extra features, weights they will hold, and brand names. They don't recommend using a car seat more than 5 years because it is unknown whether prolonged use and heat/cold exposure reduce the safety of the seats.

Would you folks be able to see the tour and slideshow from this link? I understand this is what other agents get to see. Granted, some things here may not be perfect either (p.s. you can kill the audio), but I thought these professional pix, especially of our kitchen, were superior to my agent's: http://mls.sibor.com/SIBRReports/ListitLib/report_builder.aspx?category=1&r1=RGJGH%29ySJw6xw50yOg&m1=433NZjjP9&footer=57564851&maillog_id=0894957935 I'll say this: Our realtor at least got a sunnier day to get his shot of the yard. I agree with you all. There's more to his story. I hung up the phone thinking, What is he doing? Good point: of course how come he could get the one shot of the exterior up and not the others? And thank you, chelle, for the nice words about my home, and the potential upside of not-great pix! The odd thing is I asked if I could buy a print from the photographer of the outside of our home, as a keepsake, and our realtor said he would burn all the pix to a disc for me. So, he does have them? Curiouser and curiouser. Sigh.

Certainly, the posters who say that for safety the child ought to be in the back seat are correct. And just as certainly, the posters who comment that the real issue here doesn't seem to be child safety, but the competition between the stepmother and the stepdaughter, are just as correct. The OP posted this on the Stepfamily forum, not a child safety forum, and her post does indeed seem to indicate that her concern is about family issues. She didn't even mention safety. What she DID say: "I feel that this is her way of letting me know that she's insecure in the re[la]tionship. But what bothers me is that it makes me feel like I'm being put on the same level as a child ...." THAT'S what the post is about, and it's no answer to say that because children belong in the back, period, there is no issue. Moving the girl to the back seat isn't going to solve the problem of competition for "front place" in Dad/Husband's life. If readers can't get past the diversion of the safety issue, then recast the question to remove the safety issue. Imagine that the poster were driving, and her husband sat in the back with his daughter, or the question were about who sits where at a dinner table or something. I think that both the OP and the daughter have very legitimate feelings here. The little girl had her Daddy, when she did have him, all to herself before. Now she has been moved to the back -- literally. But Dad is entitled to happiness, too, and so is the OP, and certainly she is entitled to feel like she is being treated as an adult. Without the blended family, I suppose the answer is usually, "Kids in back, adults in front; tough luck!" But to do that here, even masking it with the safety concern, just papers over the girl's and woman's very legitimate feelings. She's a kid; she has to ride in back for safety. But I would try to find some other way to shore up her feelings of security in her dad's heart. This will play itself out in other areas of life where they won't be able to play the "safety" trump card. Finally, don't assume this is all due to the remarriage. Even without a blended family, sometimes spouses come first, sometimes children do. That's life. You don't always get your first choice, but you adjust, and it is a lot easier if there is good will and understanding all around. It may not always seem fair to the OP any more than to the child; but she is the adult, and as a stepparent, is also partly responsible for the little girl's emotional growth and well-being now. Maybe sometimes the OP could ride in back with the little girl? Then they have their own bond to share rather than only ever competing for the place by Dad/Husband's side.

This thread is great...both the topic and IglooChic's stories! This is definitely a keeper (and maybe I can sneak it into the "Read Me" thread...???) On topic... In our old kitchen we had an eat-in kitchen that could seat 6 - if you didn't need to use the kitchen for anything else! Even just 4 became too many when our children outgrew the booster seats! (Both my children are very tall & long-legged for their ages...and probably will be as adults as well!) We also had a formal DR that only got used at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...at least for eating. The rest of the year it was home to all our mail (junk & not-junk) as well as a sewing room when necessary and a place for my computer when I worked from home. This DR is rather small...13'8" x 11'1" and really doesn't have room for a large, formal DR set (table, chairs, china cabinet, buffet). Since we couldn't afford an addition on the house, even just the kitchen (which is what our KD really wanted us to do, but EXPO wouldn't let her...no modifying external walls, load-bearing walls, or roofs was their "rule"), and we knew we needed more table space for everyday as well as more counter & cabinet storage, it became a no-brainer (for us, anyway). We converted the Formal DR into what I call an "Informal DR/Formal Kitchen" dining space. We took down the wall b/w the DR & Kitchen to open up the DR b/c it was so small. We put in a peninsula b/w the rooms for some separation (we had seen another house in our development w/a similar floorplan remove the wall completely and the combined rooms looked like a bowling alley...we didn't like it at all!) We didn't want to give up seating in the kitchen totally (especially my DH since he likes to watch TV at breakfast), so we added two seats at the peninsula. Yes, the two seating areas are close (a little too close, if truth be known), but they're rarely used at the same time. We totally eliminated all other seating in the Kitchen and doubled the amount of counter space and cabinet storage. Taken together, these changes were a huge improvement on how our Kitchen & DR work and fit together in the rest of the house. I do find that I occasionally miss the DR "drop zone", but I'm trying to train everyone to use the "one touch" strategy...touch an item once & either put it away or throw it out...especially effective with mail, btw! I haven't been totally successful yet, but it's getting better. So now, we have: Two seats at the peninsula A DR table that seats 10 - 12 (or would if we had enough surviving chairs...it's an old, inexpensive set we inherited from my in-laws when they sold their house & moved into an apartment. The chairs are slowly breaking one-by-one and aren't worth fixing. Someday I'll have my "dream" DR set...but not until the kids are out of college...8 years from now *sigh* Well, not too heavy a sigh as I'm not looking forward to them leaving home!) I've gotten many, many compliments from family & friends about the new kitchen, the open feel both the kitchen & DR now have, and the fact that we now use all the rooms in our house all the time!