Stroller Addiction

Ok, I admit it. Since I have become a mom, I have become addicted to the strangest things. Marketing companies do a good job of convincing us that we can't raise our children properly without certain items. Anyone remember the email of how we survived the 70s and 80s - riding without seat belts, no helmets when we rode our bikes, lead paint on our toys - yet we survived. Now, kids need to be bubble-wrapped before they go outside. I feel a bit like that with my kids. How did my parents ever raise me without a Bumbo? Or a spout cover? And I used to even touch the shopping cart!

I realize there are so many things I don't need in order to properly raise my kids. My boys don't need the latest Baby Einstein or the softest Little Giraffe blanket. But heaven forbid I don't have the proper stroller for the task in the back of my SUV when I need it!

We started out with the Jeep Stroller. This is what I registered for after trying to stroll around Washington, D.C. with my nephew in a POS stroller. I wanted a stroller that had a front wheel that turned. Not many were on the market when I started my registry in late 2003 (before I was pregnant - yes I was THAT obsessed!). I test drove this one around Babies R Us and I really thought it was great!

It has some other design features that I liked - the CD player! Hello! But the way the stroller sits, when a child drops a toy off the front, it catches on the tray and rolls into the under-basket. How convenient! Not sure if this was a deliberate feature as I've never seen that advertised, but it certainly makes for an easier life! No more lost toys, pacifiers, bottles....

The next stroller we got was the standard umbrella stroller. Every parent needs one. $9.99 will buy you a base model. Do people really spend the $70 or more to get a brand name one? Does it really matter?

The problem with the umbrella stroller is that it's not a good stroller for just anywhere. If you are going to the mall, yes. But try to walk around the neighborhood and stroll through a friend's yard to see them on the back porch. No way. Going to the park? These don't work so well on gravel. So we'd switch back and forth with the Jeep and the umbrella depending on where we were going.

I then saw a post on Freecycle for a double umbrella stroller. I jumped at the offer since I often walked with my son, my next door neighbor and her son and our 3 dogs. Trying to talk while each pushing a stroller and each walking at least dog was impossible. So I got this stroller and it was a nice change.

Apparently, people are willing to spend upwards of $600 on a double UMBRELLA stroller! Unbelievable. I guess there is still so much I don't understand.

When I was pregnant with my second son, our next door neighbors offered to let us borrow their Graco DuoGlide. I realize that I am the third person to borrow this from her, but I have some serious vents about its quality. The right front wheel falls off ALL THE TIME. Try going over the curb to get into the mall. You lift the front of the stroller up and the wheel goes rolling down the road. So you leave your children in the three-wheeled stroller to chase the runaway wheel. And have I mentioned I live in the mountains.... it be rollin'!

I also have read reports of the DuoGlide collapsing on kids although I have not been able to find any online recalls. I also don't like the fact that the kids aren't beside each other. There is nothing cuter than when the baby cries and my toddler leans over to console him. The one thing it has in its favor though is that you can put the carseat on it and not have to wake up a sleeping baby.

Then my sister in law gave me her stroller (yes, we now total 5!). She had an Instep Jogging stroller. I really like it except it's big and bulky. I have an SUV fortunately, or there is no way this sucker would be able to go anywhere with me. The front wheel doesn't swivel which means you have to get creative with turning in tight spaces. This is wider than a wheelchair and I found I couldn't fit through the aisles even at the Disney store!

The neat thing about this stroller is that it takes bike tires. $25 at the local bicycle shop got me 2 new tires installed (how cool do I feel saying that!). And you literally can take this sucker anywhere. I have been offroad on some bumpy trails and it handles well!

So all this about strollers? Have I mentioned I'm addicted? I have five. Five. And I am not satisfied with any of them completely! One will have a feature I like but then lack other things - for instance a water bottle won't fit in the cupholder of the Jeep stroller! What design wizard thought that one up?!?! Do real mothers actually ever get to design one?

On a recent visit to my mom's house, she offered to pull out the stroller that was given to her as a gift in 1985 when she was pregnant with my youngest brother. How many recalls were missed on that one? I just laughed and said I didn't need another stroller!