It's Just How We Stroll

Way back when I was pregnant for the first time, I got excited about strollers. I looked at them all and I came up with the perfect one: the Phil and Ted's.

It was pricey, yes. But it also was joggable (or so I thought) and had the flexibility to be both a double and single, which is coming in handy now when I am realizing that I am going to have an infant and a toddler in less than three months. Oh.My.G-d. But I digress...

I got a free stroller as well from a friend somewhere along the line that was perfectly adequate, but I had my heart set on the P and T. I received it as a shower gift. I do love it. But it is not sturdy enough to handle the runs I need to do. So, enter stroller #3.

Stroller # 3 is a baby jogger. And I heart it. Not only does it run like a champ, Sam loves to be in it. It sits up high and has a nice sling seat that she enjoys. But it is a monstrosity. R and I have 1,000 square feet of living space and it takes up about 800 of that (just kidding, but it is huge). The thing needs its own zip code. It does not fold down and does not go in the car. And like the Phil and Ted's, it is seriously lacking in the cargo department.

Now the proud owners of three strollers (roughly $900 worth of stroller technology), we soon discovered a new pothole in the road to stroller heaven. Both of our main strollers do not travel well. The jogger does fold at all and the Phil and Ted's folds easily, but it cumbersome and heavy. With our upcoming road trip this week, we realized that we needed to invest in yet another stroller. We needed an umbrella.

But I was not about to get one of the $20 Babys R Us umbrellas. I have heard far too many horror stories about them and besides, they depress me. They look like used doll strollers to me. So yes. We splurged on this umbrella stroller . This brings our grand total of strolling capability to $1,050. Yes. $1,050. That is roughly $250 more than the infamous high-end bugaboo. And $250 by itself seems obscene to spend on one stroller.

I do not regret our choice, though. This Volo is a fantastic stroller and today when we went to the aquarium, we appreciated it's lightweight and incredible maneuverability.

With another baby on the way, I am already beginning the search for a double jogger. When I mentioned this to R, he looked like he might kill me. I estimate that before our last child is done strolling, we will have roughly the cost of one Mercedes Benz in strollers sitting in our basement. G-d help us.

Four strollers and counting....