Monday, April 26, 2010

New Wheels

I am a stroller buff. In fact, it is quite ironic that right now, at THIS time, I don't even have ONE. When we lived in the house with a garage, I was quite the collector. Boom Boom would ask me all the time, "You collect strollers like JAY LENO collects cars. What do you plan on doing with all of these?"

And well, each had their own purpose. When we had Madee, we of course got the "travel system" and the Cadillac stroller that holds an infant seat. It is just the stroller I heard you HAD TO HAVE. I didn't even question its purchase. Even though we didn't really live in a place where it could easily maneuver (trails and potholes and sand and SNOW) and, in fact I couldn't use it outside, since there was 20 feet of snow, and I couldn't take it to stroll the mall, since we our town (and the next 2) didn't even have a mall.

I bought an old basic Baby Jogger for $30 at a garage sale that first summer, but it was a pain to disassemble and haul around, and it barely folded up at all. I found a Bob SUV for $20 (it retails for $300) in pristine condition, but HATED IT and sold it for $150. SWEET ACE.

I bought a double "sit and stand" but it was too long to turn easily, a twin Peg Perego that the girls trashed within a month, and although, for the most part, I haven't lost any money at all in strollers, I find myself here now, without one, as I have sold the last of them on Craigslist.com.

But that just will not do. Madee may not really ride much anymore (so I doubt I really need a double), and I know Eden is pretty close to walking, but still, even if they don't ride in it all the time, I still need something to sherpa my mile high pile of crap that comes with us on the simplest of trips.

I need a rig that will jog, stroll, and walk through a mall. Something that can handle sandy beaches, rooty hiking trails, maneuver through doorways, jog down dirt roads and pothole laden streets and still fit in the back of the car leaving the dog enough room to lay down.

It should have a cupholder and good storage underneath and a swivel front wheel and a good sunshade for a sleeper.

And if it can make coffee and do dishes, I will even consider paying an extra $20.

Do you have a stroller you love? Tell what you love/hate about your baby gear and what you buy all over again!

4 comments:

Marcy said...

Lady, I think you've just called up the dream stroller, and unfortunately I'm thinking it doesn't quite exist yet. =(

We have 2 that we use all the time now. One is a Maclaren Triumph that I just keep in the trunk of my car. D's getting much more able to just walk everywhere, or have him carry him from time to time as needed, but sometimes we still like to take the stroller if we might have to walk a long ways and potentially carry him, or just if I want a place to stash the diaper bag & sweater. It's light, it's small, it's served its purpose. I also did buy a fabric canopy thing to make up for the crappy shade cover.

Our other stroller is a Bob, the kind with the swivel front wheel. We keep it in the garage and use it for whenever we go on walks from home (it *can* fit in the trunk of my Honda Fit, but not without leaving space for much else). So we use it when going to the park, to the farmer's market, etc, wherever we might walk from here. We've also taken it with us up to Tahoe on a summer trip, and will likely lug it up for any snow trips, as well, for its all-terrain-usefulness. The underbasket isn't great, but it works, and I got the cupholder attachment thing you strap onto the handlebar, and that works fairly well.

So that's what we use and it's worked pretty well for us. We had another stroller that we bought in Switzerland (when we lived there) and used for the first year or so, but the brakes on that thing are shot so it's out of commission. The Maclaren and Bob have done me well, and unless one breaks I don't see us needing to get anything else for when we have another kid.

Jamie said...

I agree, I think you're lookinug for stroller Nirvana and that's going to be hard to attain.

We bought a combi for Cadence (nearly 4) and just bought a new one for Annika (10 months). I like it. It folds up super compact, is easy to drive. It works well for travel (it's light and small), but there isn't an adult cup holder and the basket is TINY.

I wouldn't use it for intense off roading. I don't think it would hold up. I think we're probably going to end up getting a jogging stroller or something of that sort and then we'll just load it in the car if we're going on an outing we think would call for it, but otherwise, we just leave the combi in the car.

Family Sized Fun said...

yah marce, you basically have my ideal combo there. but i would wan tthe bob before the maclaren.

jamie you are right. and in stroller nirvana it has a margarita machine attached!

meagan, the pretend writer said...

i have some graco dbl stoller. got it bc my babes are 11 mo apart. yikes. so it carried the infant seat. i had my own collection of stollers which i have gotten rid of but 2... why? i dont know, hoarding maybe.
i like the one i have now bc its heavy and adds extra resistance/weight when we power walk.

 
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