We've finally hit the forward facing car seat milestone - and I'm not sure I like it.

For the past three years of his life, Little Man has sat in his car seat facing the rear of our vehicles.

However, very shortly after he turned three years old, my very tall Little Man hit the height requirement of his seat and was very close to the weight limit of his seat in the rear facing position. {For reference, at age three he was two lbs shy of the 40 lb rear facing weight limit - in only a t-shirt and jeans, so no shoes, etc. He also didn't have more than an inch between the top of his head and the top of his seat.} While the next logical step was to flip his seat around to be forward-facing, the actual act of doing so brought me a bit of anxiety initially.

I kind of feel like there are so many articles going around the internet on how rear facing as long as the child is safely within the seat limits is the best option - that by the time he became legitimately ready for forward facing, it was a little nerve wracking to finally turn him.

Like, is this really the safest thing?

In the end though, you have to go with the safety of your child in the seat you own, and even if it means turning them forward facing - when they're beyond the age of two and they hit those height and weight limits - that's what you have to do.

{In saying that, I want to be clear. You all know I really understand that being a parent is a tough, and I know in ALL of the mommy war issues - you have to do what works for your child, your family, and yourself. This - however - is NOT a mommy war issue. This is a safety issue, and I completely stand firm behind the belief that children should be rear facing until AT LEAST two years old - and there is no reason to turn their seat forward facing until they reach the weight and height limit.}

Initially, Little Man really didn't like it as well. For about the first few trips when Little Man was forward facing, he was really upset and asking to for his Daddy to turn his seat back around. After a few trips, he finally decided that forward facing was okay.

And then he realized he could see me.

Now, I officially have a backseat driver.

Lol.

Each time I turn the radio down a little, he sees my hand and asks me to turn it right back up. When I take a drink of something I've brought myself for the trip {even if he has his own}, Little Man also wants a drink. Forget actually having a snack in the car! Any time I use the GPS on my phone or look to my phone when we're stopped to see the directions? Song requests for the Polar Express or Frozen soundtracks. He even has asked me to "turn the wheel!" or stop the car if he sees something interesting like a police car, fire truck, crane, or construction equipment.

It is somewhat nice when I see something {like a school bus or excavator - are we seeing a theme here?} that I can point it out to Little Man knowing he can actually see it as well. I can't tell you all how many times in the past year or so before this that I'd say, "Oh! Look at the ____!" when Little Man couldn't even remotely see what I was seeing.

Other than that, though? I miss his rear facing car seat.