Help me find a CPST class!

[The Review Mommy]

First off let me start out by saying my area sucks! If you need your car seat installed there is a 2 month wait and recently two of the closest Cops in our area stopped doing them at all! And they were only doing it for a couple of hours a couple days a week....oh, and the so called Permanent Fitting Stations are weekends and only until noon, first come first serve! If it's NOT raining. Needless to say there is now even a much longer wait! Argh....

This has sparked a great interest of mine in becoming certified. I've been telling my friends for years to get their seats checked and now I have found out they never did because it's just nuts out there! I'd really like to help out! But alas....check out this certification situation:

Only seven measly classes, no where remotely near me, from now till February 21st 2006 in the entire state of California! Maybe, hopefully they will add some more but what are the chances they'd even be close to me?

I've read up on ALL the past threads and have done everything that was ever mentioned. Am I leaving something out? What’s your area like? I feel so alone! :( What can I do? Is there only one organization you can go through to get certified? Is what's up on their website really the only classes available? I've called to double check and each time they say yes! I can't believe the location and number of classes in the entire state of California!

Please Advise!
-Rebekah
Maybe never a CPST! :(

[mom2acrew]

Probably not much help but how about another state? The certification is nationwide so you don't have to stay in California.

[The Review Mommy]

Ok, so I may have been a little upset when I posted LOL but I've calmed down a bit after talking to DH. He is going to help me figure this all out. I just signed up for a class in Garden Grove, about 1 hr 1/2 away from me which isn't too bad. Anyone from around there? Any great shopping to be aware of? :) Anyone interested in signing up? I think it would be fun to go with another BBB member....

DH is surprisingly exited about all of this and is seriously considering doing it himself if not now in the near future. It's so good to know he's on board and that makes me smile :)
-Rebekah

[Joolsplus2]

Glad you found a class! Sometimes the main contact knows more classes than are listed, too. I drove from Tracy (between SF and Sac) to Carson City, NV, to take my class (it was over two weekends and I stayed in a hotel...good thing the class was free so I could pay for my hotel! I had SO much fun 'getting away' for that class, lol)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[kijip]

Was it a week or a weekend class?

[The Review Mommy]

Hello Katie!

Yes, I'm now certified, thank you for asking. :)

It was a "month" of classes. During November, usually 2 days a week. Always Monday and then either Wed or Thurs. We had the test, I think, on a Fri and installing on Saturday. This worked out great because I was able to study and let everything sink in before going back. I couldn't imagine having to do it all in a week or weekend.

They were not allowed to tell us our grades. They sent them in to Safe Kids and we were told to check the website for them. This took about 22 (business) days. Yikes! :( Then got my CPS card about two weeks later in the mail.

It was an interesting class but I feel like I still have a ton to learn, I was a little bummed! During the class I was wondering were Julie gets all of her info. I'd so like to be as knowledgeable as her. She's the one who got me thinking about this in the first place-Julie You Rock!

I'm a New CPS Tech! :)
Rebekah

[kijip]

Were you the only mom in the class or were there others? At my class there were all police officers and others who were required to be there for work, including one taxi company owner.

The real learning is in the work so if you volunteer to do checks, you will get more confident. Also the green LATCH manual and the car seat manual CD is like a cheat sheet for answering questions here!

Congrats! I hope you love it.

[The Review Mommy]

Hi Katie,

Thank you so much, I do love it! I'm assuming you do too! ;)

Class-You know what, this is so funny because my class was exactly the opposite of what I expected. I was expecting it to be like yours with the officers and some various employees but at the time CHOC (Children’s Hospital of Orange County) was sending their nurses in for training, most of who did want to be there so that they could start educating parents. So, there was only one Police Officer and the rest were moms and or nurses. It was a recipe for disaster! No just kidding, there was just a lot of estrogen fun flying around, :P and there were so many yummy places to eat out at, and I made some friends. At the very end we had a game and I won some great prizes including the green LATCH book, a box full of "tech stuff", and a cute Safe Kids locking clip pin. I have been looking through the CD and LATCH book already and your right it is like a handy cheat sheet. :)

I’ve been volunteering as much as I can but I live smack dab in the middle of two Safe Kids groups, both about an hour and a half away from me. I have been learning lots each time I go but am concerned because I’m butting heads with many a tech out there. I watch them and can’t believe the lack or la-za-fair (sp?) approach to child passenger safety. Most do not check for recalls on Britax and some other seats. Only if it looks questionable. (KWIM?) For example:

“Um….I thought you couldn’t install a Marathon RF with LATCH….try using the automobiles belt, I think it’s been recalled, I'll go look it up for you.�

“Um….I thought we were supposed to ‘pinch’ the top of the harness instead of the old ‘finger rule’.�

Eventually I’d like to have a business like Julie, :) but I realize how important it is to volunteer right now especially in the very beginning.

Wish me luck with the Yahoos :P
Rebekah