No, I’m not expecting twins, but I have
just bought my new double pushchair. When I used to imagine having children and
being a mum, I never envisaged quite how expensive and stressful choosing a
pushchair would be. I thought it was a case of choosing the prettiest….how
wrong I was! With a single buggy, it is marginally easier. It was a case of
trying out a few, picking one that was well above our budget and spending three
months begging my husband to get it (he didn’t ever give in, but his mum asked
me what he wanted for his birthday that year, and I might have mentioned a
Bugaboo Chameleon…lets just say he wasn’t thrilled about his amazingly generous
birthday present that year…!). I adore my Bugaboo, I literally love it more
than any other baby item I bought (including all the cute smocked dresses). It
goes over anything, mud, sand or snow, it is cozy and warm and has never given
me a single problem. I also like the way it looks, and contrary to reviews, I
find that it folds down to a fine size. The only time it doesn’t work for us is
if we are fly, when we use a Quinny Zapp, which folds down to nothing (and, as
we are never flying again, isn’t too much of problem).
With a double, there were lots more issues.
Basically, there are two choices, side by side (aka super wide) or over and
under (where one child has to look at the back of the other, but the same width
as a single). I was adament I didn’t really want either, as our hallway is
quite narrow and I hated the idea of Fifi staring at thr back of a seat. I
think it would have been a better option if she was bigger and walked more, but
she is in the buggy for over an hour a day, and I walk a lot, so for me it
wasn’t an option, despite the amazing reviews of the Phil and Teds double.
So, after a trip to Peter Jones, I had fallen
in love with the only double that was vaguely flexible, in that it got thinner
or wider with the click of a button (and a bit of jiggling of seats….no problem
with two kids…), and could be a single or a double. It also had lots of space
for shopping, was a great height (a problem for me, as I’m 5’10’’ and my
husband is 6’2’’), and nice and sturdy. And, best of all it was a Bugaboo.
Perfect, I was so excited. Until the lovely shop assistant told us the price.
And then there was a lot of silence, mainly from my husband.
Well, it is his birthday in 3 weeks, so my
initial thought was, maybe his joint present from family and me, and Fifi, and
my parents, and any generous friends that want to chip in (suddenly the godparent
net started to widen in my mind), could be this gorgous and practical buggy. As
soon as I had the thought, he looked me in the eye and told me not to even
think about it, he had his heart set on a new bicycle. Oh dear. It took a lot
of promises (so many empty ones, but lets hope he’s not reading this), and
begging (in public) and reminding him of my long, horrible first labour, and
agreeing to sell my beloved Chameleon on eBay before he agreed to buy it (as my
birthday present….but that’s not for ages, so hopefully he’ll forget).
So, I spent all Friday evening putting it
together (in the single formation), and have fallen more in love with it than
the old version. It is better at getting up pavements, has way more space for
shopping and best of all, it’s called a Donkey, which is Fifi’s best animal
noise, so she hee-haws as we push it around the park!
Try the Uppa Baby... i LOVE ours and it is similar to Bugaboo without the $$$ price... it is pretty expensive, but just not Bugaboo!
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