Last week, assorted kids and I got a ride home from a soccer game with a neighbour of mine. As everyone was piling in, he asked if the kids could all buckle themselves up and I realized, yes they can.
I am living the dream!
I used to have three kids all in five-point harnesses and I used to fantasize, EXTENSIVELY, about the day when I’d say, “Let’s go!” and I’d put on my shoes, grab my purse, head out to the van, get behind the driver’s wheel, and then just drive away – with everyone else having put on their own shoes, and opened the car doors themselves, climbed in, and buckled themselves up.
I gotta tell you, it seemed like crazy science fiction at the time, and yet now here we are, at exactly that point – only one booster seat remains – and trust me, I am GRATEFUL.
The next milestone, I think, will be when everyone is tall enough to reach dishes in the kitchen on their own. We have a small pile of cereal bowls at kid-level since our oldest became a preschooler, but I didn’t want to move all the plates and cups and everything into a low cabinet because that was just weird. We’re now at a point where the Captain and Gal Smiley can, just barely, reach things on the lowest shelf, meaning they can get their own cups of juice and plates for toast and what have you. The Captain can even, just with his fingertips, load and unload things from our above-stove microwave.
The Little Miss is our holdout, but she does do her best – she’s recently figured out how to jump up and pull herself onto the counter so she can get her own stuff, and again, I am grateful for the independence, and she likes Taking Care Of Business and also Being Really Helpful. But still, it seems like she is always sprawled bodily all over the freakin’ counter exactly when I am rushing about trying to make lunches or throw together dinner, plus I don’t know how many times she has whacked herself on the head while trying to open a cupboard that she’s sitting in front of, so yeah, it’s a work in progress, that’s for sure.
Really looking forward to the day when I can tell the kids to just set the table, or get their own snack, and anyone who is around will be able to reach whatever they need.
But until then, pretty stoked about the car thing.
TurtleHead 
Oh, MEEEEE TOOOOOO. I think of it frequently. Everyone goes to the bathroom, puts on their shoes, puts on their coats, gets into the car, and puts on their seatbelts! It’s like MAGICLAND!
I’m looking forward to everyone being able to start their own showers (we have an annoying shower thing, and the three littlest still can’t handle it) and get (and put away) their own towels (over-the-door towel hooks are way too high for three of them).
YES. It’s so great! Both kids can reach dishes on the lowest shelf but the 9 yo can’t reach above that. My solution for now is they divide the dishwasher-unloading duties: the 12 yo does everything that goes on the upper shelves, and he does everything he can reach.
The dishes thing is nice, but NOTHING beats having kids who can ride in the car like normal people without having to be boosted and lashed and tightened and clamped down seven ways from Sunday.
I hear you! I encourage the tiny baby steps Mark is taking toward his independence, anything that can make life easier! So far, unfortunately, he has only mastered putting his litter in the garbage (cookie wrappings, etc.) and putting his toys away. But I’m working on everything else. Oh, he can brush my hair. That I enjoy, selfishly.
the car thing is the best! I agree!
sounds like you need a step stool for the kitchen?!