So at the playground in Central Park today, we had a little problem. First, I guess I was out of town and didn't get the memo, but every single kid there had his or her own toy stroller. Every one. Well, except mine, who promptly had a series of stroller wrasslin' matches with whoever she could find.
She'll put up with my talk of sharing, as long as it doesn't interfere with her getting whatever the hell she wants. Now. From whoever's been holding it for her until she arrived. Obviously, sharing's not one of those things that you learn in a day, but I think we're gonna need to invest some reading time here. [And get a toy stroller, so the kid can at least have some skin in the game.]
The funny thing is, yesterday, as we were walking down the street, just the two of us, the kid generously reached her hand up to me to share the impressively huge booger she'd just dug out of her nose. At least she's got potential.
I'm surprised that there wasn't more sharing among the haves with your have not. In any case the problem is pretty easily solved. You can buy these things everywhere, namely Kmart for about five bucks. If your child happens to have a penis and you are uncomfortable with him pushing around a pink stroller with flowers on it, not to worry, Schneider's sells a mini-Maclaren in blue with neoprene handles just like the real one. It was more than five bucks though.
[truth be told, it was hot, late, and I was too wiped out to deal with all the makenice required when your kid goes to the park un-equipped. This was on the west side, so there were no color-coded gender hangups visible. It's odd, though, because our park on the east side has approximately zero toy strollers. They only start appearing around Sheep's Meadow. Maybe pushing a stroller's like pushing a vacuum; it's what the help does. heh. -ed.]
In my recent stroller research (scroll down to Greg's post "So Tell Me, Which Stroller Are You Thinking Of Buying?", check the comments section and help me out!), I noticed the Maclaren on-line store offers the stroller as well as several other doll-sized items.
The stroller thing is a virus with toddlers -- they see one kid pushing a toy stroller, they all want to push a toy stroller. Fortunately, older daughter still had hers stashed in the closet and we don't care if our son pushes a purple stroller.
In a pinch, let the kid push her own stroller around. It does, however, set a dangerous precedent.
Just got an FAO Schwartz catalog. They have a toy Maclaren for about the same price as I bought my real one off eBay. (Note to FAO - take me off your list. I'm not spending $250k on a dance on piano when my kid is perfectly happy playing with toilet paper...OUT OF THE TOILET.)
Stop, stop and stop.
She won't ride in her own stroller, but she might want me to buy one for a doll (wait--I have to get her a doll?)
I googled toy stroller--just to see--and " rel="nofollow">here's what I found at baby universe:
Not just toy strollers, but toy car seats & toy exersaucers too.
Too much.
Won't she just play with the sock monkey?
Our alternative to the stoller was to get a toy shopping cart (slighly more manly) for about $10 at Target. The nice thing about the shopping cart is that you can toss a lot of other toy clutter into the cart. You can even stick a doll in there for an instant stroller if the kid isn't to demanding about his wheels.
I've observed that all the kids, regardless of sex, want to push the hot pink stroller. So save your money on the Maclaren doll stroller and just get the hot pink one.
Oy, Target has the non gendered shopping cart, but the barbie cart has this description:
"The cart is outfitted with a realistic keypad and scanner in its handle that kids can use to scan the 20 play food items included. Cool speech and sound effects on a dynamic 2-1/4" speaker add to the fun. There's even has a slot for swiping faux credit cards! Kids can also use the shopping guide and circular to buy items by entering numbers on the keypad. The wheeled shopping cart is easy to assemble (no tools required) and durable enough for active play. Includes 20 play food packages, supermarket circular and plastic wallet with 4 "coupon cards," bar-coded savings card, faux American Express credit card and shopping guide."
Seriously.
[wait, you mean math is hard AND let's go shopping?? -ed.]