Now, we own a couple of strollers, each with a different purpose.
We have our Graco stroller from the travel system we received when Sam was born. It's somewhat bulkier, sturdier, and larger than the others, but it's comfortable for her, has storage room for me, and pretty easy to maneuver. This is my usual go-to stroller for errands, and always lives in my car.
Then we have a Babies R Us umbrella stroller - this is much lighter and smaller than the Graco stroller, but at the same time has not storage and it's not the easiest thing to control. Retailing at $20.00, we actually got this one free from friends who received it as a promo for buying something else, and they had no use for it at the time. It's not my ideal mode of transportation for Sam, but it does come in handy when we're going on trips and want to save packing room. This one lives in Chris' car.
And there's this Baby Trend Expedition jogging stroller I REALLY wanted when we were registering because I had this crazy idea that I was going to take up running once I had Sam to get back into shape, and the best way to do that was to get me a stroller to run with. Clearly. Go ahead - ask me how many times I've used this stroller, let alone run with it. I don't think it would go beyond one hand. If anything, it's been used more as an emergency backup whenever the Graco was left in Chris' car when I needed it while he was at work. Sidenote: If anyone is looking for a jogging stroller, we may be looking to sell this in the near future. Let me know if you're interested!
Anyway, since my Mondays with Samma are soon coming to an end (we'll get to that later) I decided it was time to take a trip down to the Wrentham Outlets while we still had the time to do it. Packing Sam up wasn't a problem, especially as she slept most of the way down and back, and traffic wasn't even an issue at 10am in the morning, and I was able to grab my usual parking spot, so I was in pretty good spirits when we started.
Three hours later, however, it was a totally different story, and I was pretty much ready to punch anyone who got in the way of me, Sam, her stroller, or my car.
For one, you would think a store that caters to children and newborns would have accessible aisles large enough for strollers within their store, but you would be amazed. Stores such as Carter's, Gymboree, and StrideRite were so cramped and crowded and awkward with product overflowing from their shelves and endcaps that I was lucky to even get the chance to look at anything while I was there. Not going to lie, it was a serious turn off, and yet a blessing in disguise, because it definitely was a factor in the amount I didn't spend while we were there.
Second, and this may be more for me than anyone else, but I know for a fact that I will never purchase a double-wide stroller for whenever BabyBaby² comes along. Those things are massive and you thought I was having a hard time walking through those stores with my single Graco... there was this woman in front of me at StrideRite who was not having an easy time, and she was getting pissed off at everyone else around her because THEY were in HER way while she was trying to get her massive stroller around a corner. There was even one instance where she was so aggravated she more or less plowed her stroller on through, creating a pile of shoeboxes in her wake, leaving me behind her to clean them up without even looking pack.
Finally, and this is the one that made me the most angry, was the lack of courtesy from those around me. I couldn't tell you how many times someone in front of me didn't bother to look behind them as they walked into a store, or how often someone came up behind me, saw I was struggling to get the door open with one hand, and just stood there, waiting for me to get the door for them. This infuriated me to no extent.
Now, I'm not saying that because I have the stroller, there's a sense of entitlement for the world to hold the door for me, but at the same time there's also a level of expected common courtesy. Or maybe it's a Mom thing... a couple of times there were individuals who not only helped me out, but made off-handed comments about those who didn't, so you could tell there was almost a camaraderie there amongst the moms that knew what you were going through.
So there's my little rant. Not much, just some food for thought.
So to all of you out there who don't think we notice when you let a door slam behind you... oh yes, we do.
And to all of those who go that extra step to help a mom out, that, too, is noticed. And appreciated. So thank you.
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