I am not new to the mama game. My oldest is 7 and my youngest is 4. Last month, we all went out as a family and packed our stroller. This stroller is six years old and has been through it all. For a small bit of time, we had a double stroller for hauling both kids. Then my oldest declared that he was “too big” to ride. I wasn’t sad about not lugging around that giant thing. It was a beast. It was really nice to be back to the single stroller.
Let me tell you about this stroller. I bought it around six years ago when I was much younger and only had one kid. This means that I had the time to sit down and read reviews on Amazon and picked the one that best fit our needs. It’s lightweight, easy to throw in the back of my little SUV, super sturdy, and the handles are high enough for my 6’1” husband to maneuver comfortably. It’s pretty sweet. 
Back to last month. We were in line for cookies (what else do you do at the mall?) and I noticed how giant my four-year-old looked in the seat. I mean, when did her legs get that long? How is she so tall? Then I noticed on the bottom of the stroller a little tag that says, “up to 50lbs!” and realized that our stroller days were coming to an abrupt end. I thought about my four-year-old, how she loves to saunter around at a snail’s pace, how much she will only hold hands on her terms, and how sassy and how downright stubborn this girl is, and I was not ready to be finished.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks later. I needed to go shopping. I did not bring the stroller. And you know what happened? We survived! Sure, our shopping took longer than I had intended. Us mamas are usually hustling because we have so many things on our plate. We explored the whole store. We sat down and read some books. We found really cool things and had some good laughs. My daughter has a great sense of humor, the best laugh, and the biggest dimples. We spent more money than we had meant to, but you win some, you lose some!
The biggest lesson for me was to take it slow sometimes. We don’t always have to be in a rush. It’s nice to be able to slow down, really take things in, and enjoy it. Before I know it, this kid will be in school learning and having fun without me like a big traitor 😉 So I am working on enjoying my time with this big kid because as we all know, they grow so fast.
