I was reading "A Modern Infant Armada", a humor column in Maclean's Magazine written by a fellow humor columnist. Writing about it now is a bit like a painter painting another painter or a singer singing about another singer (but it not like a cook cooking another cook.).
David Russell (yes, another humor columnist named David)laughs at his neighbor for parking both cars in the driveway to make room in the garage for four strollers for just one child. I laughed with him. Four strollers for just one baby is ridiculous, right?
However, David Russell becomes a parent himself, a condition that afflicts many unsuspecting homo sapiens, and he concludes that a call to his neighbor is warranted: "I need to see if he can help me get a fleet rate."
"Traitor!" I cried out. "Stroller monger!"
"Who's a traitor?" my wife asked as she walked in the room. "And just what is a stroller monger."
I resisted the obvious answer ? that a stroller monger is somebody who mongs strollers. "David Russell. He says that one stroller is enough for any child, but then he decides to buy an entire fleet."
"Say, we could have saved a bundle if we had applied for a fleet rate," my wife mused.
"What? We don't have four strollers."
My wife smiled. It was a sweet smile you could just fall in love with...if you did not know that it meant, "Oh yes we do!"
"We do not."
"My wife took out her counting fingers. "First there is the car seat," she said, pressing down the first finger. "We snap it into the stroller base whenever we go anywhere."
"OK, that's one."
"Then there is the SUV," she said, pressing down on a second finger. The "SUV" is a full sized stroller. We bought it when we were still squeezing it on a downtown apartment. With no storage space, it stood in the entrance area, blocking our path to the kitchen and any hope of escaping if the place caught fire. The SUV is the Hummer of strollers.
"OK, that is a stroller, I will grant you. But that's just two."
"We also have the fold-up stroller," my wife said, pressing down a third finger.
"But she's not even using it yet."
"She will soon and we have it now," my wife pointed out. "Then there is the old fold-up stroller we kept as a backup. That makes four."
"You can't count duplicates. That's double counting."
"It takes double the space," my wife insisted. "We have four strollers.
I stared in silence. Slowly it sunk in. Yes, there were two Davids who were humor columnists, but there were also two Davids who were stroller-mongers.
Uh-oh. My wife was smiling again. She was watched for just the right moment to strike. "Our baby has more seats in this house than anybody else has."
"That's ridiculous." No sooner had the words left my mouth than I remembered the boomerang rule. Words like ridiculous, ludicrous, silly, stupid and big mouth usually apply only to the person who speaks them.
My wife rhymed off our seats, "Three on the couch, two chairs in the living room, six in the kitchen, one in the bathroom and one at each of our desks. Plus the three red chairs Little Lady has in the living room. That makes 17."
"Ha!" I knew it couldn't be true.
Then came that deadly sweet smile again, the smile that said, "Take my hand while I lead you around the house to see why you should think first and shout 'Aha!' later."
In the kitchen stood the high chair and the sit-in play saucer. In her office sat the rocking chair that never rocked and the bouncy chair that never bounced. There was the swing seat, and there were two cushion seats for sitting upright on the floor. She opened the door to the enclosed porch, and there were the four strollers and the car seat she would soon be using.
"That makes 12," my wife tallied. "We each have fewer than six."
I thought really hard. "Aha!" I said again, proudly pointing out that this time I had thought first and shouted 'Aha!' later.. "We have three chairs on the balcony, and six on the patio. There are also six folding chairs for the fire pit."
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and there was no reason to forget all the outdoors furniture at a time like this. Unfortunately, there was no reason to forget arithmetic, either. Our baby still had the most seats in the house ? and outside the house, too.
"Uh, do toilet seats count?"
My wife smiled her sweet smile again, a smile that could only mean, "So, stroller monger, what do you have to say for yourself now?"
I knew that another humor columnist named David had just been labeled a traitor. Meekly, I mumbled. "Lawn tractor seat?"
About The Author
How many strollers does one child need? This scientific study has determined that stroller-mongers need four.
Let's face it: raising children can be quite the adventure.... Read More
Something eerily familiar happened in KwaZulu-Natal's Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park in Africa... Read More
Every week I write something about the stock market -... Read More
Our children are our most important legacy to the world.... Read More
Search for Assurance: The Power of BelongingThe job hunt is... Read More
Many families today are blending members from past relationships. It... Read More
What makes parenting so challenging at times? One widespread research... Read More
It's been said, time and again, that for a child... Read More
One of the most powerful tools that parents have for... Read More
1. Boundaries are necessary for control and safety.All children need... Read More
Early childhood educators have called play "children's work". Many parents... Read More
In his recent newsletter "Happy Kids", parenting expert Michael Grose... Read More
For any of you Moms out there that are doing... Read More
I had just completed a session with 17-year old Julie... Read More
For first time parents choosing a swing set or outdoor... Read More
In a single dose of children's television, I was bombarded... Read More
Those of you that have children know what an excursion... Read More
So you want to be a mum? Every time you... Read More
Would you hand a child calculus problems once she was... Read More
Thank you to all of our professional educators who dedicate... Read More
the woes of being a parent of an ADHD child.....Like... Read More
"There is nothing new under the sun," states Ecclesiastes 1:9.... Read More
What exactly makes safety glasses different from regular glasses? There... Read More
You send your child to school and the teachers teach... Read More
All responsible parents would want to support their children, find... Read More
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way... Read More
Why Is Spending Time with Your Child So Important?For children... Read More
What do you do when your child begins talking to... Read More
Are you worried about your child's reading habits? Perhaps you... Read More
Most parents at some stage are driven to distraction by... Read More
Annie easily slipped into becoming the sole caregiver of her... Read More
Minus all meningitis thoughts. The flu symptons were strong. Headache,... Read More
Younger generations unfortunately will not understand how larger than life... Read More
It's sometimes difficult to find ways to be involved with... Read More
Life is full of competition -- even in childhood. Kids... Read More
Although it's hard to say when the first stuffed dogs... Read More
I thought I was the only one in the world... Read More
Q. Things have been relatively calm and OK with our... Read More
Once your little boy/girl goes off to school, you may... Read More
Did you know that the number of twin births have... Read More
To every thing there is a season, and a time... Read More
Under the "No Child Left Behind Act," public schools whose... Read More
An Awesome Dad in by no means perfect. But that... Read More
"What age should my child start school?"This is a common... Read More
Every week I write something about the stock market -... Read More
We all wish that our children should not smoke or... Read More
Backpack? Check. Notebooks? Check. Ink-pens? Check. Clear Skin? Mommmm!If you... Read More
Life is funny.My twenty-year-old daughter, Melanie, has a her new... Read More
Children are moral and make moral determinations... at least until... Read More
Not all parents subscribe to the notion of "tough love,"... Read More
From the time the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in... Read More
It's no joy to be sick. It's even less joy... Read More
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is... Read More
It's the third time this week that Sam has complained... Read More
Optimists do better academically, socially and enjoy better health than... Read More
There's a new kind of fun and calm out there... Read More
"To educate a person in mind and not in morals... Read More
"Money is tight, and my husband's obsessed with doing everything... Read More
Your child's teacher says that you need to find out... Read More
Imagine yourself lying flat on your back, totally strapped down... Read More
'I felt great until I walked into the classroom -... Read More
Unfortunately each year many young children drown in swimming pools,... Read More
The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of all... Read More
I was reading "A Modern Infant Armada", a humor column... Read More
Do you really want your child to enjoy playing with... Read More
Are you being smart about water conservation? Do you consider... Read More
Parenting |