There is a blog by a dad on Baby Center today that really pissed me off! You can read it HERE
He talks about older kids or in this case a "big" child being pushed in a stroller. This child gets out of the stroller and runs up to the park. He is quick to judge that the child should have been made to walk to the park, not ride in a stroller. There are many issues that I have with this theory!!
*He has no idea how far this family walked to get to that park. There are some distances that are simply too far to expect a child to walk the entire way.
*The child might not have appear disabled in any way, but that doesn't mean there isn't something there that wasn't easily seen.
And what would personally apply to me:
*I have a runner. Emma is almost 4 and takes off pretty quickly. I can tell her until my face turns blue to stay put, but that doesn't mean she will. With a baby also in tow, it's hard to catch up with her if she does take off. It would also be difficult to get to her before possibly a car does.
I know walking is much better for children for the exercise. Emma is so active, I don't worry about that part of it at all with her. I do worry about her running out in a parking lot, a street, a driveway .. and getting hit by a car that couldn't have seen her coming. I also worry about the possibility of the sickos out there that could snatch her before I could get to her. I guess I am silly to worry about the SAFETY of my child before worrying about if she is too big or too old for a stroller!
I suppose I could always use one of the "leashes" on Emma, but that would be judged also .. possibly by me lol
ReplyDeleteJamie, we're in the same boat. Evan is a runner too. He has to be in a stroller or leash. In fact, the other day at Target. He needed to go to the bathroom so we went & I had to carry Keoni in the car seat in there as well. When we came out, Evan held onto the basket while I put Keoni car seat back on top of the basket. Right after doing this, our Target bathroom is right by the doors to come in & out, GUESS WHAT?? Evan ran out the doors, I had no choice but run after him leaving Keoni on top of the basket. Luckily he stopped in the middle part before heading out in the parking lot. Scared me shitless. From now on, he goes in the back of the basket before I attached Ke.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I used to think that the leashes were horrible. That is, until I had Emma. She is the reason they were invented, I'm convinced they saw her coming! lol We have never bought one, but I have often been tempted to. She can get out of the stroller easily on her own..buckled or not. Same with carts..she can just unbuckle. Plus, some stores, that would require us have 2 carts if we were going to buy anything. One for Emma, one for Kaitlin...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree on the leash, thinking poor child who was on one UNTIL EVAN!! Now, I understand. We own a leash and we use it just as much as the stroller. Evan likes it. We used it Mother's Day in Downtown Memphis looking at the river. If you look at my Memphis Flooding pics, towards the end you'll see a pic of Owen walking Evan on his leash. Yea, Evan can buckle & unbuckle himself in carts too but can't buckle or unbuckle in his car seat..go figure.
ReplyDeleteWas reading all the comments and this one said it best:
"Ashley says:
May 9, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Maybe their son had a habit of running into traffic, maybe he has asthma and they wanted to make sure he was actually able to play on the playground instead of wheezing by the time he got there. Maybe he has a disorder that you can’t see, like something on the autism spectrum or sensory issues or hearing issues that would make walking more difficult or dangerous. Maybe they just like to push their kid in a stroller for reasons known best to themselves, but no matter their reason it doesn’t bother me one bit…because it’s not my business anyway."
"you'll see a pic of Owen walking Evan on his leash"
ReplyDeleteThat cracked me up!!!
I definitely agree with that response!