NewMom: Stroller Envy

OK. I admit it; I’m a stroller loser. After spending months and months during my pregnancy checking out every stroller on the market, hemming and hawing over the Zippy and the Zooper and the Pliko, the Phil and Ted and Bob, I gave up and got the Graco. It was $199 WITH the car seat, it was purple, it was light and it wasn’t hip, but it seemed just fine. I was really perfectly happy with it, or so I thought, until I went to Boston.com and saw this article by Kate Jackson, Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Stroller . I think I’ve been outed. I’ve never met Ms. Jackson and am not mentioned by name in the article, but I swear she must have a window into my soul.

Because, just as I thought I felt confident and smart about my practical and cost-effective purchase, I read her story and realized she was talking about me. I can’t take NewGirl on a walk without eyeballing every other stroller that passes us by. I wonder how much more exciting and fulfilling their lives must be when moms and dads breeze by in their Bugaboos and Bertinis. Those must be the people whose babies sleep through the night, never spit up, and find a diaper change to be a blissful experience. Equally embarrassing, I really check out the families that have the same stroller we do. What do I think the stroller says about them? How cool — or not — do they seem? And just as I am about to drown in my own stroller insecurities, I have a brilliant strategic plan. I’ll recommend in gushing glory our Graco Metrolite stroller car seat combo package to every hip pregnant woman I see. Seriously — it’s the perfect stroller for you. I promise!