Stroller Envy

Melanie Morgan, April 2008

It comes in your favourite colour. It has shocks, a retractable hood, tons of storage space, and four of the smoothest riding wheels around. So what if you shelled out thousands of dollars for it - you'll use it everyday. In fact, you think you may just be in love with it… your new stroller.

I still remember my first. It was a fabric umbrella stroller that had been lovingly patched with denim by its previous owner. It was given to me free of charge at a local garage sale while I was pregnant. As my belly grew, so did my stroller desires and I started to do research and interview parents in the know. After much debate (and a few test drives) I finally decided on a rather expensive travel system. I took it home and proudly drove it around the house much to my husband's chagrin.

Fast forward a few months (making me almost nine months pregnant) and I responsibly take my new car seat to a safety check to ensure that my baby will not only be riding home in style, but in safety. To my absolute horror, it turns out that my beloved car seat is not compatible with my mediocre vehicle. Worse, that is the only car seat that is compatible with my new, beautiful stroller. Now I have the horrendous task of making a very important decision while clearly in no stable mental state: walk the 11 miles home from the hospital with my baby (and subsequently everywhere else I need to go), convince my husband to buy me a new car, or return my stroller. And thus began my obsession to find the perfect stroller… again. Three years and nine strollers later it dawns on me: I am not a rational person; I am not merely filling a void in my life. I have stroller envy. Sparked by my early trauma, I now feel the need to constantly improve upon my current stroller and to justify to myself (and anyone who will still listen) why that other stroller (the stroller I not-so-secretly still long to have) is indeed not as good as mine.

That one doesn't have a cup holder. Mine has a cup holder. That one has an inconveniently accessible basket… which is much too rigid to be practical. That other one over there only comes in two colours and neither one of them look good with my diaper bag. My stroller has a secret storage box, rear brakes, and an optional toddler seat. Not that I have a toddler. But I may someday…

The bottom line is this: I have a stroller that is perfect for me and you can't convince me otherwise. Stop parading your new uber-wheels around in front of me. I don't care. I'm not even paying attention to its double chrome wheels and independent suspension system. I'm not. I love my stroller and am happy with what I've got… that is, until I track down where you bought yours.