SAHM
I'm a stay at home mom today and it feels great. It's quiet & peaceful and already I miss my mom who's travelling this weekend. It seems that baby has taken up all the time while she's normally here and I'm wishing that I could have this quiet time with her.
This may not be the first time I've been home alone with baby, but it sure is the first time I have actively wished I had MORE of this time before I needed return to work. By accident or otherwise, baby's doing exactly as she is supposed to and on schedule so far. *Hope I don't jinx it*.
So as my first order of SAHM business, I need to rant about strollers.
Many Americans hardly walk anywhere, except for that occasional stroll in the park, and inside department stores or the mall. While shopping, you can place your baby in a shopping cart (in or out of the infant seat). So I really don't understand the HUGE market and hubbub about strollers. Why is the stroller market so big and so complex ?
From the house to the car hardly requires a stroller. From the car to the store hardly requires a stroller. Maybe for the odd fair, or 4th of July celebration with a picnic in the park - sure a stroller is useful, but consider the nature and frequency of such use, isn't lifting your own kid (in a sling, carrier or just in your arms) adequate ? After all, pushing a stroller requires one, if not both hands anyway.
Maybe I am the naive mom of a 12lbs 9oz baby, and I don't yet realize that once they get heavier, supporting their weight on one's body is too cumbersome. But even so the stroller would be used so occasionally that I don't get the depth of features and choices.
Now for people who want to tote their kid when they go running or bicycling, & a cart isn't built into the experience, a stroller makes sense. So I wonder what %-age of the American 1st & 2nd year parents actually do enough activities that don't involve a cart anyway. Obviously enough to justify the market...
This may not be the first time I've been home alone with baby, but it sure is the first time I have actively wished I had MORE of this time before I needed return to work. By accident or otherwise, baby's doing exactly as she is supposed to and on schedule so far. *Hope I don't jinx it*.
So as my first order of SAHM business, I need to rant about strollers.
Many Americans hardly walk anywhere, except for that occasional stroll in the park, and inside department stores or the mall. While shopping, you can place your baby in a shopping cart (in or out of the infant seat). So I really don't understand the HUGE market and hubbub about strollers. Why is the stroller market so big and so complex ?
From the house to the car hardly requires a stroller. From the car to the store hardly requires a stroller. Maybe for the odd fair, or 4th of July celebration with a picnic in the park - sure a stroller is useful, but consider the nature and frequency of such use, isn't lifting your own kid (in a sling, carrier or just in your arms) adequate ? After all, pushing a stroller requires one, if not both hands anyway.
Maybe I am the naive mom of a 12lbs 9oz baby, and I don't yet realize that once they get heavier, supporting their weight on one's body is too cumbersome. But even so the stroller would be used so occasionally that I don't get the depth of features and choices.
Now for people who want to tote their kid when they go running or bicycling, & a cart isn't built into the experience, a stroller makes sense. So I wonder what %-age of the American 1st & 2nd year parents actually do enough activities that don't involve a cart anyway. Obviously enough to justify the market...