When I was a young whipper-snapper *yes I was honest*, I thought the buggy was only for pushing kids around in. It was for helping mums to get from A to B without causing a hernia.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I actually got myself a wee kidette, I discovered that there are a lot of things that buggies can do which you didn’t realise were possible at all….
1. The pack horse
My kids are now 6 and 8; I miss my pushchair immensely. Not because it would help me get my small moaning little person to the shops without the cries of:
“Mum, it’s so boring!”
No.
I actually want my pushchair back so that I can put my shopping in something without having to fight with plastic bags that break when I put one too many baked bean cans into them.
As for draping stuff over the handlebars; well using this extra storage space means that you can carry pretty much anything. You do need to remember the laws of physics when you take your kid out of the pushchair though. Otherwise the buggy has a tendency to flip over and whack you in the face…
2. The entertainment system
Now THAT phrase is a throwback to the eighties isn’t it – just like me…reminds you of those massive Hi-Fi systems right? We don’t need those anymore do we? We can now fit our “hi-fi system” inside our pockets thanks to the invention of the smartphone. However, iPhones aren’t the only entertainment system around these days. The buggy is fantastic for entertaining kids. This is for a number of reasons:
- They are strapped in so can’t escape, they HAVE to pay attention to whatever you dump in front of them
- You can tie stuff to the buggy within easy reaching distance, from toys to books to pretty much anything that you can attach to those clever bars that keep your child from launching themselves across the shopping centre into Mothercare without you noticing. We would have been lost without our collection of buggy buddies and various pushchair hanging toy thingies… *what are they even called?* My kids chewed them too; keeping the teething scream at bay. Buggies can be teethers too. Oversized ones that you couldn’t possibly take to bed of course, but still teethers…and if it stops the kids from yelling, it’s alright by me
3. The fifth emergency service
We all know that The AA is the fourth emergency service right? The buggy is critical in many emergency child related situations too…
- The refusal; if your child is having a tantrum about the small stone that you refuse to let them pick up because they have a collection of 75 at home and you keep hoovering them up…the buggy is VERY important in getting your child to move again
- The attack of the munchies; children get hungry in mad places, like just outside school before pick up, or halfway around Tesco, or even worse in the middle of the woods when the other child is tearing around on a bike and there is NO WAY you are going to get them to come with you. Some buggies, like the uber Cosatto pushchairs that I wish were around in my day, have so many places to put snacks that you would probably forget you had them. Nevermind your child hiding them under their bum for later. This means you are always prepared for the hunger wail as there is a handy set of rice cakes within reach
- The My Own Private Idaho; so who likes Leonardo Di Caprio? Pretty sure that this isn’t just me *looks around frantically. *In this film in the early 90s he had a tendency to fall asleep randomly. He was a narcoleptic. Toddlers thankfully don’t usually have this affliction, but what they do suddenly become very tired and need their sleep NOW. We mean now as well, otherwise you will be wrestling with a small person. Thankfully, your pushchair can become a bed at the pull of a lever and a flick of a switch. *Phew*
4. The pathway to the dark side
Nope – owning a pushchair does not make you a Sith Lord. When was the last time you saw Darth Vader with a pushchair…
Introducing your child to the dark side is not what it sounds like. When your four month old needs a rest, you have a little trick up your sleeve to help them drift off.
You can make the buggy dark, safely of course, so that your child thinks it’s night-time and goes to sleep. The Snoozeshade was MADE for this. We used a blanket as I am an older bird, and the Snoozeshade was merely a twinkle in Cara Sayer’s eye when my kids were little. Whatever you want to use though, turning your child to the dark side in a buggy makes for a smoother time out and about. It is a god send.
5. The mummy gym
When my kids were young, I stopped exercising. Why did I do that? There are buggy exercise classes! Clearly, you aren’t lifting your child above your head in the buggy to get muscles like Superman. THAT would be ridiculous. Apparently, you can take your pushchair complete with small person, and get back into exercise after your baby through walking their specially designed routes and programs. I am still struggling with getting fit years and years later; thank goodness for swimming, However, if I had known I could use my buggy handles as a dumbbell, I would have been managing a lot better.
Buggies are amazingly versatile aren’t they? What do you use yours for…other than transporting your child of course, because using your buggy only for that, well that’s just BORING!
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Photo from digitalart / freedigitalphotos.net
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!