3 Ginger Snaps

There are a number of things that I wish I had been keeping track of over the past year. The number of diapers I have changed, for example. Or the number of times Ruby has asked me for a snack in the morning when we've already left for school. Or all the things I thought I would be able to do on parental leave but just haven't been able to find the time to accomplish. Lists can be interesting.

Anyway, one List that certainly would have been worth keeping would have had the title “Things I have crammed into the stroller”. You would think that the stroller having been designed for children should primarily be used for children. And I suppose it is. But two or three times a week I manage to load it up to capacity with any number of items that the designers never intended it be used for. I'm not talking about groceries. Anyone who designs a stroller as big as this one and doesn't expect that it will get used to carry around groceries doesn't know anything about family life. I'm talking about the bed frame that I found the side of the road a few weeks ago, brought home, fixed up a little bit, and then sold on craigslist. I'm talking about the lumber i got out of the dumpsters from the several construction sites on our street and used to make sawhorses for our garage sale a few weeks back. And, yesterday, beer. (as an aside, the stroller actually fits three children – If you sit one of them on the prow of the Stroller, the way Ruby is doing so in this picture.)

So stroller designers, if you're listening, please know that as much as I appreciate the mesh cupholders, the heavy duty nylon basket under the seats, the sun visors, and the fact that there's a quick release wheel I can take off before folding the thing up to stuff into the back of our family wagon on a trip to the zoo, what I really love about this thing is that it's a rugged beast I can take anywhere. It's my urban assault vehicle. And if you're looking for design improvements for the next model, I suggest a roll cage.