So, I’m walking through the shopping mall with Jack the
other day… yes, that’s right, Jack and I were walking side by side. Or, rather, he was leading and I was
just trying to keep up. And I’m
thinking about the past year – the first year of his life – and what a surprise
its been in terms of baby transport.
You see, I like to keep on the minimalist side of things
when it comes to parenting. I
don’t want Jack to have tons of stuff, and I don’t want to spend tons of
money on him. So when I was
pregnant, we went out and bought this wonderful pram (sorry my Canadian readers
– pram is stroller, and this is the term I use given I live in a country full
of funny-speaking people). The
pram came with two different seats – a little capsule for when he was a tiny
bub - This was necessary for
transferring him from car to pram without disturbing him from sleep. Then when he grew out of that, there
was a toddler seat. This faces
forward or backwards, reclines in three stages for baby’s sleeping or awake
time comfort, and the pram itself is a Cadillac of a machine – both in terms of
its size and its endless features.
The pram can also accommodate another seat – so it can eventually cart
around 2 children. This was one of
the main selling points for me. Its
cost was something exorbitant – as we expected it would be – prams are just
outrageous in both their cost and the wide range of bells and whistles they can
offer.
So, anyways. We
spend nearly $1000 for this shiny new set of wheels for our little cherub who
will soon be making his grand entrance.
I had visions of using this pram on our daily outings, trucking it
overseas for family holidays, and of watching Jack go through the stages of
growing up with the pram – going to toddler seat and eventually the second seat
to make room for his new little sibling we might have one day.
It is now roughly one year on from when Jack and I had our
first outing in the Vista Cruiser.
(All of Jacks vehicles have names). And today I had to blow the dust off it in the garage. I hate that thing.
It is so big.
It is so hard to get through aisles in a shop – if not impossible. The basket under the seat is not big
enough to hold any reasonable amount of groceries, so when Jack was a wee baby
I would have to push the pram, load up what groceries I could, and hang a
basket on my arm as well to collect what I needed. Nightmare.
So I went to the frontpack. Jack liked this, but it would put him straight to sleep so I
had to be careful with our outings if I was working around nap times. Jack never was small or light, so a
frontpack also proved to be a strain on my back.
As soon as Jack was old enough to hold himself up, I had
him propped up with blankets and a purpose-made cover for the shopping
trolleys. He LOVED sitting up in
there, seeing all the people go by and being able to chatter away to me all the
time as we cruised the supermarket aisles. This is one of his more preferable modes of transport. But there is more.
Theres the trike.
This is probably Jacks favourite.
With guards to stop him falling out, foot pegs to rest his legs, and a
handle for Servant Mummy/Daddy to push him round, he thinks this is the
greatest thing ever. The trike
goes everywhere. Around the block,
to the pond to feed the ducks, to the city for department store shopping.
We do have another little pushchair, which we purchased for
my trip to Canada with Jack. But
Jack makes it clear to me that he doesn’t like prams much at all, and he would
appreciate it if I would put him in something else. Being the hopelessly spineless mother that I am, I hastily
oblige. Going through airports,
Jack would be tucked up in the front of the luggage trolley as his pushchair
lay folded amongst the suitcases.
Then there’s the Blue Streak. A plastic box secured onto a tray with 4 wheels (like a
mechanics slider) with a handle attached, this was a DIY wagon type of device…
on a cool evening, Jack likes being bundled in blankets and pushed up the road
to meet his daddy coming off the bus before dinner.
On his first birthday, he got a big John Deere wagon that
fits all the children of the neighbourhood and then some. When we left for our beach holiday in Noosa
after Jacks birthday, I insisted Nathan put this massive wagon into our
pocket-sized car so we could take it with us, as I was sure Jack would enjoy
this most. Nathan looked at the
wagon, looked at the hatchback space, looked at me, and just shook his
head.
“It’ll fit!” I cried.
“No, it wont” he calmly said.
“Well take off
the front axle and handle and it will fit”.
“Jesus. You
want me to bring the whole tool kit with us too?”
“Just a spanner and a screw driver, honey. Come on, be a sport”
“Isn’t his little pushchair and his trike enough?”
“NO! He will LOVVVVVE the wagon. It will be perfect!”
The wagon did not fit.
Axle or no axle, Nathan dutifully demonstrated to me that the wagon was
ginormous, and the car was not.
“ok. I believe you now. I just had to see for myself it
wouldn’t fit. You can pack the
trike and pushchair now. Thank you.”
Pretty sure he was shooting daggers in the back of my head
as I walked back into the house.
The point I am trying to make here is that I had the best of
intentions before Jack was born, but it all gets thrown out the window once you
have that little package of perfection staring at you with needing and loving
eyes. Minimalist my ass. His Royal Highness requires more than
the bare minimum, thank you very much!
A one year old shall have no less than 6 or 7 modes of transport at
their disposal. At this rate he
will have a motorbike by the time hes 3, and a car when he’s 7. And before all of that there will be
scooters and bikes and pogo sticks and skateboards… God help me!!!
I am curious to know if other mums are disappointed with the
lack of use they got out of their fancy dancy prams which we thought were the
be-all and end-all at the time of purchase……
So in closing, after 12 months of transport-transitioning,
now Jack is walking - and so as
far as he’s concerned, he doesn’t need any type of carrier at all – he insists
on using his own two feet to toddle about. If only he would walk the way I want to
go instead of running in the opposite direction…. Oh the joys. Bless him.
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