Kim Kardashian's Parenting is Fair Game to Critics

I don’t give a rat’s ass about the Kardashians… let me just put that out there.

I don’t care about Kim. Not her lips, her butt or her daughter’s wardrobe. I don’t care about Klhoe. I know there are more of them but I’ve never bothered to learn their names. I don’t hate them… I just don’t care. Aside from those 10 minutes in 2008 when I watched Keeping up with the Kardashians and wondered who the hell are these people? I haven’t really given them much thought. I’m just kind of meh on the Kardashians, as I am on most celebrities – except I don’t get why they’re even famous – but so what? They are, and therefore, everything they do is plastered all over the internet for all of us to see… and to criticize.

A few days ago, Kim Kardashian (or someone who hangs out with her, maybe a nanny, maybe a friend) made a car seat blunder. She was on her way home from (or maybe even to) somewhere with her young daughter and an unidentified companion when she snapped a picture of the two sleeping little girls sitting in side-by-side car seats. (And yes, it feels totally weird to refer to a toddler as an unidentified companion.) I have no idea who North’s snoozing bestie is, but the good people in the land of Instagram have pointed out that she’s buckled incorrectly.

It took me a minute to realize what was amiss. Keep in mind, I’m old and I rode in my mom’s lap in the front seat in the 70’s when I was about this size. I’m pretty sure there were no seat belts involved whatsoever and I have a dim memory of my mom smoking a Salem while she held me.

For those of you who might not be up-to-speed on the latest in child safety, the straps on the kid on the right are too loose and the clip (which should be sitting on the chest) is too low. It took all of 47 seconds for the internet to point out what Kim was doing wrong. Three thousand comments and going strong; the snarky, the helpful, the random ads for swimsuit giveways. I’m not condoning the car seat kerfluffle. It’s not a minor mistake. Failure to properly strap your kid in can be dangerous, even deadly. The safety of any child is not something to joke about no matter whose child it is. But it’s a shame that Kim’s every little moment of motherhood gets broadcast and criticized harshly. Yes, she put that picture on Instagram. But so what? I put a picture of my kid on Instagram this morning, too. I wonder what the world would have had to say about this if I were famous:

While I can’t relate to life in a fishbowl, I can relate to being a good friend and neighbor. If you see someone buckling their kid into a car seat incorrectly, why not find a way to tell them politely? Those things come with manuals but people aren’t perfect and sometimes we get stuff wrong.

Because I’m a good friend and neighbor, I went on the Internet and found this handy-dandy video from Baby Center that shows how to properly and safely put a child in the car seat. You’re welcome.

The more you know, people. Share this information if you think it will help keep a child safe but don’t be a ass about it. Moms make mistakes and need to look out for each other instead of tearing each other down and taking every little opportunity to criticize. With all the talk about ending the Mommy wars, maybe it just starts here… yes, (sigh)… with Kim Kardashian.

Keep your kids safe, people. And don’t be a douchebag.

Jill Robbins writes about adoption, motherhood and midlife on her blog, Ripped Jeans & Bifocals. She has a degree in social psychology that she uses to try and make sense out of the behavior of her husband and three children but it hasn’t really helped so far. She enjoys dry humor and has a love/hate relationship with running. Her work has been featured on Babble, Scary Mommy, In the Powder Room, and Blunt Moms. You can also find her in the December print issue of Mamalode. She willingly answers any questions that end with “and would you like wine with that?” You can follow Jill on Facebook and Twitter.