By noon on the first summery Saturday of spring. Diaper Diva was pushing Ducky in her stroller and they were off to a Prospect Park birthday party for the newly one-year-oldson of one of DD’s friends. While in the stroller, Ducky was holding onto her pink, plastic toy stroller. OSFO and I followed along to help wrangle Sonya, who is an utterly adorable handful when she is in the park. Especially when she’s got her toy stroller.

The birthday party was abundantly picturesque: bright colored balloons,
attractive parents and well-dressed children, tables of delicious food,
including TWO foot-long hero sandwiches from Terrace Bagels, and a
three tiered platter with homemade cupcakes. 

As is often the case, DD spent much of the picnic chasing after 21-month Ducky who was far more interested in pushing her stroller than hanging out with a bunch of one-year-olds. Luckily OSFO, who has energy to spare, is great at running after Ducky. That’s probably one of the reasons she placed second in the 70 meter race at a recent school track meet. The girl can run. And she loves to run after Sonya.

DD bought the birthday boy a toy McClaren toy stroller, which was opened immediately and put to use. Every child, who could walk, wanted to push that thing. And, as is often the case, there was inter-child conflict — little spats, tears — because of the stroller

There were assorted discussions among parents about the toy stroller phenomenon. It’s THE TOY kids want to bring to the playground. But when they get there, they often abandon their own toy stroller and pursue a stroller that doesn’t belong to them. Those children who’ve arrived without a stroller are often determined to find one when they get there. There are tantrums and tears over over missing strollers over being told to stop playing with someone else’s stroller.

So what’s the deal with these strollers. Is this behavior something new or for time immemorial have babies fiendishly pushed baby-sized versions of whatever vehicle they were carried in. Do the kids raised in bjorns and slings not become frantic stroller pushers. Or do they all succumb to the lure of the toy stroller? Surely they are immitating what they have seen around them. But is there something else at work here – some developmental stage Piaget failed to mention (or I fail to remember)?

We had to leave before the birthday song. DD was exhausted from too much running after Ducky, who pushed her little stroller from the grass near the band shell all the way to the jungle gym in the Musical Playground.

We walked home through the park with my sister the born-again stroller pusher, and her daughter, who is obsessed with her toy stroller, and OSFO, who held onto the stroller pretending that she is Ducky’s older sister (which she is, in a way).

This baby has given so much to us all.