A Walking Disaster

Who knew that a simple walk in the stroller could turn out to be such a bad idea?

Kate has never been one for the stroller.  She doesn't like to be "put" in anything - the carseat, the stroller, her swing.  She's been this way ever since she was born, and I keep telling myself it will change, but so far no such luck.  However, every month or so, I give her stroller another go, telling myself that maybe, just maybe she'll like it this time and I can be like all the other moms who take their kids out for a nice afternoon stroll.

So I tried it again one day last week, and lo and behold, we walked for about half an hour before Kate got tired of it.  Compared to my past experiences, this was like winning the lottery, and I was thrilled. So naturally, I thought we'd try it again the next day, to see if we could keep a good thing going.  Big mistake.  It started out just like the day before.  Kate was perfectly good as I buckled her in.  We're walking along calmly and peacefully, when out of nowhere comes an ambulance and fire truck with lights flashing and sirens screaming.  Poor Kate was so scared and started wailing at the top of her lungs.  I stopped to comfort her, and probably spent about five minutes calming her down.  When things seemed to be under control, we continued.

At this point, Kate's mood was a little more fragile.  But no, I thought, the walk will now be peaceful.  We'll walk along, I'll point out different things to her, and all will be well. All of the sudden from behind the fence comes a huge BARK.  We're not talking a cocker spaniel bark, a chihuahua bark, or a poodle bark.  We're talking a Great Dane bark.  Kate starts wailing again.  I go to the front of the stroller to comfort her, saying, "Kate, it's a doggy!  Like in your book,  ruff, ruff!"  Somehow the sound coming from behind the fence sounds nothing like the cute "ruff, ruff" sound the doggy in the book always makes.  She continues crying, and I decide we should just hurry and get away from that fence as fast as possible.  Of course, the next section of the fence has a dog as well.  Not a Great Dane this time, probably just a Rotweiler.

Story book dog "ruff, ruff"    Scary dog "Bark, bark"

Aaaaah!  Time to head home.  By this time Kate is so frazzled that every passing car causes her to look around nervously and start whimpering.  I'm trying to feed her yogurt bites to distract her as I push the stroller.  Soon the yogurt bites are no longer working, and Kate is crying.  By the time we turn onto our street, Kate starts all-out screaming and I have no choice but to get her out, and push the stroller the rest of the way with my one free hand.

I think we'll wait another month or so before we go on another walk.