Should Strollers Be Banned?

February 2, 2011

A few months ago, I was coming out of a bank with my stroller when I realized my son had dropped his teether. I ran into a few moms and asked them if they’d seen it on the sidewalk. The three of us were taking up about two-thirds of the sidewalk, but you could still easily walk around us. As they pointed out where they’d last seen the dropped teether, an older woman passed by and sneered, “Look! It’s a bunch of mommies with their Hummers!”

Hummer? I drive a 4-year-old, beat-up, purchased-on-eBay Maclaren, lady.

The comment made crystal-clear the resentment some people feel for parents who think they deserve more than their share of space, a sentiment echoed by an incident in Canada, where a dad and his twin stroller were kicked off a city bus. Now the dad has filed a human rights complaint, saying the policy of letting bus drivers decide if strollers are allowed on board leaves parents open to discrimination.

Snarky lady aside, I actually understand why people get annoyed. I was about two years out of stroller age when I had kid #2, and the second time around it became apparent to me how in-the-way strollers can be. And let’s face it: some parents are entitled and clueless, and don’t make any effort to stow their tank of a stroller to the side. Until he got too chunky, I preferred to use a carrier for my son. Now that he’s too big for that, I make every effort to run errands without him.

However, for a window of a couple years, you must use a stroller some of the time, or else never leave your house. It would be nice if parents made every effort to be mindful of others, but also if the folks around them cut them a little bit of slack.

Twin stroller on a city bus: clueless or justified? Do you ever find yourself getting dirty looks for using a stroller in a crowded place?

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