Babies R So Not Us

Last week the husband and I took a half day off to go and register. There was no way we would be able to face the hoards of other new parents and rowdy toddlers on a Saturday so figured we'd ease into like a nice warm bath.

I have not been so overwhelmed by a shopping experience since I bought a prom dress. We started in the stroller section because we figured this was the car buying experience we never have in the city. A nice enough guy tried to help us but everytime I asked him to show us some options he kept directing us to the Quinny. I didn't recognize the name among the sea of Maclarens that are peddled around the Upper East Side, and they clearly weren't as cool as the Bugaboos because they weren't as expensive as a real car. All we knew we wanted was something compact (could it fold up and fit in the closet?), something that would survive our marathon walks around the city (big wheels? suspension?) AND light enough to take on the subway (taxis be damned!). Oh and something safe (of course). Nothing seemed to work. I suspect that most Manhattanites have the same needs, but I've heard that many have multiple strollers for different purposes. This was never going to work in our little pod of an apartment.

After much consideration, we're considering the following options:
1. Breaking down a buying a Bugaboo Frog (we tested out a friend's and the smooth ride through Central Park terrain was impressive)
2. Just using a Baby Jogger (advice welcome on this one)
3. Not buying one at all! (another friend offered us her very gently used Snap n' Go and car seat to get us few the first couple of months. Our most sustainable option yet!)

Expect frequent updates to this section of the blog because we are completely on the fence about this.

Now originally this post was supposed to be about the whole Babies R Us experience but clearly it was too overwhelming for one text box. To be continued ...