The other day I saw a young mother out with a baby...it was so swathed in blankets it must have been very young. Mother had the baby in a three-wheeled sort of push-chair...it looked as though it had been extremely expensive...but she couldn't see the baby at all unless she stopped pushing the chair for a minute and walked round to the front...
I think that's really odd.
Time and again I see pushchairs...no-one appears to have a pram anymore...where the child is facing away from the person who's doing the pushing...you can't talk to your baby like that...you can't point out a dog going for a walk or cows in a field or a fire-engine going by...
You can't pull silly faces or jiggle the pram up and down to make the child laugh...actually I can't recall the last time I watched a young mother or father having fun while pushing their child somewhere or other...they have a 'phone clamped to their ear in a vice like grip and, all too often, a sour expression on their face. As though they really wanted to be somewhere else entirely.
I had a wonderful pram...it was enormous...had big wheels and a proper hood...I'd stuff my twins under the hood and older son would sit at the end with his feet dangling over the side...off we'd go. We waited by the level crossing for a train to go racing past...stood by field gates admiring the cows who leaned over and slobbered...patted horses noses and said hello to passing dogs...oooed and ahhed over pussy cats sitting on windowsills...we picked dandelion heads and blew the fairies away...
We had fun.
Before they could speak properly, we still had long conversations...a bit one-sided mind you...but they'd babble away happily and that was enough.
Many years later when we were asked would we take a newborn baby before she was adopted I asked for a big old-fashioned pram...the vague and totally useless Social Worker thought I was being silly...we'll give you a decent pushchair she said...I said not...I wanted a proper pram so I could put our fragile little foster child at one end and the baby at the other...I wanted to replicate the days of my birth children's babyhood when we walked all afternoon with the dog running ahead...me bouncing the pram to make them all curl up laughing...stopping on a wide verge for a rest and to eat the sandwiches I'd brought...the babies sitting side by side slurping from their respective bottles...cheeks scarlet from the sun...fat brown legs and beaming smiles.
Those girls with their sober faces and skin-tight jeans, who act as though their small child has nothing to do with them...the pure pleasures they are missing with their expensive pushchairs and ever present cell 'phones.
My children were never perfect...I wasn't the perfect mother...having once thrown a plate of spaghetti Bolognese at eldest son when he was about fifteen...he ducked and it hit the kitchen wall behind him.
Took ages to clean it off.
Childhood passes too quickly...I'd love to stop one of those young women and tell them that.
I agree I had a big coach built pram with big shiny wheels,then as my children grew they had what was called a Tan sad pram,which folded to fit in a car,I think they were made by Pedigree,my eldest had a bottle green pram and my youngest a grey one both faced me,so I Could see what they were doing at all times,and they were long enough for them to lie stretched out to sleep.
I agree too Vashti, I think it was when Those easy fold buggies were invented that the child faced forward....I know they were handy to store and get on the bus with.....but I would often end up carrying a screaming child and the buggy full of shopping.
My old pram had a storage rack underneath for shopping....but those were the days that you could leave a baby and pram and food outside the shop and know it would be there when you came out.
Mine also spent time outside sleeping in the pram, getting fresh air...not safe now I guess.
I saw Princess Charlotte on the TV yesterday being wheeled to her christening in a coach built pram.
Oh I remember then!! When I was little my mam used to have the 3 youngest in the pram while is two eldest walked all the way to my grans. Then I had a proper pram for all 4 of mine, with a pram seat on for the elder of the 2. (had 2 then 13 yrs later had another 2😊). Still used pushchairs for travelling but loved to walk with the pram.
GJ x
P.s. Do you know why these phone mummies don't know about prams because it only comes up in predictive txt in the plural!! Pram itself is not recognised, that says it all 😏
Oh vashti you hit the nail on the head. A wonderful time My youngest daughter looked everywhere for a traditional pram. She's a walking Mum & wanted her babies to face her so she could talk sing & amusing them. Eventually settled for a Mother Care My three which has a pram attachment that faces Mum got some very funny looks when she walked along singing talking etc. Three cheers for Mums who have fun with their little ones.
How true, Vashti. I had a mushroom pink and white Marmet pram for my children now in their 50s. That pram was so smart. It was great to push but of course, nowadays, it would be impossible to put in a car. And we didn't have a car in those days. Even the push chairs were very basic and I could see my children and chat to them. BUT we were happy - how many people could say that in 2015!!
The lovely coach built prams were so well sprung. Modern pushchairs tend to be bumpy and uncomfortable.
I used to tell my children how important it is to have the baby facing you, both to make the baby feel secure, also so the traffic fumes don't blow in their faces.
Did you hear my telephone conversation with my sister in law yesterday ? I said we were planning a weekend away while the children are at school as I always feel anxious watching kiddies not supervised properly while their parents are too busy on their phones, toddlers crying for attention which are ignored for the same reason. I also hada huge .pedigree pram my dad bought us for his first grandchild. It was used for 3 of our 4 children and my brothers kiddies when iI was minding them. I also believe pushchairs should be facing the mother. Like you I feel some (not all) parents miss out by not interacting with their young offsprings .
I read with interest, but although true, time has moved on so much that a lot of these things would be totally impractical as transport would not accommodate a pram and most young Mums could not afford a coach built pram.
I have seen a few mums and Dads in the park with large prams, but only use for walking.
Most of these modern pushchairs look far too small but most can be made to face back or front, I have not got Grandchildren. But if I am ever lucky enough for my ason to present me with one I think I would invest in a proper pram to go for walks.
I had the same pram that Pergola had for mine in the 60's. I was so proud of it and really enjoyed taking them for walks. Nowadays I see these poor little babies ( too young to even sit up properly on their own) all scrunched up in their awful pushchairs trying to sleep with their chins on their chest because they're unable to lie down. As you say, the mother can't see them - or what's going on with them, they could easily be choking or something as she's busy chatting on the machine that's permanently stuck to her ear. There's no interaction with children as there used to be and we now have a society with screaming, aggressive toddlers who know they can get what they want because it shuts them up!
I am so with you Vashti. The pushchairs today are not great but cost a fortune. Our grandson was always facing his mum until he was older. Babies like to be looking at whoever is pushing them not facing out to total strangers. I always had a pram of some sorts and then a pushchair as I liked being with my children - still do.
Children grow up so very quickly and childhood is soon behind them so everyone should enjoy it all while they can. Our beautiful grandson is 3 now and our gorgeous granddaughter is nearly 10 months - I treasure every moment with them and am lucky enough to have them nearby.
Couldn`t agree more Vashti. I had a big coach built pram for my boys but the fright of my life was when the youngest was in the pushchair- facing away from me- and i was chatting to a friend in the street when a passerby alerted me to the fact that my little boy was blue in the face and choking ! Never again ! I think all new mums should be warned about this. Keep well, Sheila x
I can remember when I was about 4/5 years old being in mums big coach pram with my baby brother (him at the hood end and me nearest the handles bar). I had just been to the dentist having quite a few milk teeth out and mum was telling me not bleed over the pram or my baby brother. I'm still not sure if she was more upset about me getting blood on my brother or her precious pram, I think it could have been the pram.
I got a second hand coach pram when our daughter was born and it was so lovely to push her everyday on our walks. She was very tiny when she was born and it was a couple of years before she could safely sit in a push chair.
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED TO ME ON MY WAY TO LIVING MY LIFE!
Childhood Games...
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