Cold Spaghetti

We’re selling it. The great jogging/all terrain stroller that served us so well. We’ve found that, since Kate, it mocks us. Reminding us of days when we could walk, run, stroll, and meander to the Park, St. Charles Avenue, or the store with ease. Now our distances are short and slow: we’re either carrying one, or allowing one to walk, both situations which cut walking trips down in size and frequency.

The upcoming trip to DC (more on that later) brought the realization that we NEED a double stroller. Without it, the scenario of me, alone, flying with both children, is a very scary one. I learned quickly that double strollers: 1. are expensive; 2. require the consideration of many more factors than I initially would have thought; 3. are big.

At first, I thought we were going to be a sit-and-stand type of family. Then we saw them in person. I realized that upon seconds of sitting back to back, my kids would be pushing against the seat backs each trying to grind the other into fine powder…. if Will would even agree to sit behind his sister (unlikely). The tandem models were an immediate rule-out for size (they don’t fit in our station wagon) and weight. So, I was looking at side-by-side models.

After consideration of a hundred things (their different weights, different ages, size, weight, and durability of the stroller, etc.) I decided on the Maclarens. We love our Maclaren Triumph (single stroller) and I thought this was best. A similar double? $250 or more. I watched ebay for a few days… they get that high and rarely does one come up used. Ouch. I couldn’t pay that much for a stroller that, in reality, I’d never be able to use at home. In New Orleans, you MUST have an all-terrain stroller to use it outdoors or you’ll never be able to go anywhere.

So I started checking out the all terrain double strollers. Yowza. $450 and up. After coming to these conclusions: good strollers are expensive, it’s a good thing to splurge my consulting income on, good strollers have good resale, and we miss long walks together — we decided to find one. In the end, it was the City Series Baby Jogger — normally $550, but purchased for $425 on sale through ebay, marked down due to it’s color (lilac). We were going to get the Mountain Buggy Urban Double ($669, we could get it down to $575 with coupons and sales) but liked the additional length of the City Series, the easy fold, and the smaller size when folded. Actually, we were just really excited to find something comparable for $100 cheaper. I still can’t believe we spent this much on a stroller. So, in the mean time, we’re selling our other strollers… need to replace the consulting income that was suppose to go to Jazz Fest.

We are so excited about it and can’t wait to try it out… isn’t that odd?