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OMG. Parents! The world has ended! Armageddon is here! You better hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife because a restaurant has enacted, gasp ... a stroller ban!
What? You were expecting something ... devastating?
Tell that to Jason Desroches and his wife. They're talking about suing a restaurant called Flips that dared turn them away for bringing their baby daughter to breakfast in her stroller.
Because ya know, having a baby means you must have a stroller.
Doesn't it?
I said, doesn't it?
Er. OK, I'll 'fess up. I think these parents are out of their gourds.
Strollers are nice. But they're not a basic human right.
They have heard of babywearing, right? Whereby mothers and fathers since time immemorial have actually carried babies on their backs and fronts, rather than putting them in a wheely cart? It's actually pretty handy; my kid even does it with her doll.
Frankly, I never was very good at babywearing. I could never quite get the hang of it without feeling severe pain in my back, although I know plenty of moms and dads who have done it for years.
So I did use a stroller. Sometimes. I'm not ashamed to admit it!
It was great for long walks with a mom friend to lose my baby weight, and perfect for stowing packages when I went shopping. Yes, the stroller was mighty convenient.
But it wasn't necessary.
Heck, there were countless times when it was INCONVENIENT to lug that big thing along, so I left it at home, opting to carry my baby girl the other way parents have since the world began -- perched on my hip.
You get where I'm going with this, right?
For starters, the Desroches come off as a wee bit looney tunes, screaming about discrimination because a restaurant asked them to leave a non-essential item at home when dining with their baby. They're actually boycotting the place! And asking other parents to do the same.
Over a stroller.
But I do feel at least a little bad for them. Society has turned the stroller into a "must-have" item for parents, the kind of thing you feel you're supposed to have. Check out any how-to on registering for a baby shower or prepping for baby, and it's near the top of the list.
To be a parent in 2013 is to have a stroller, or at least to be told you should.
When did this happen? When did something that makes parents lives easier ... sometimes ... become a necessity? When did we become so dependent on these items of convenience that we actually throw a hissy when we're not allowed to use them?
Because the Desroches aren't the first parents to get angry when someone dared deny them their stroller. Have you ever read a rant on a parenting message board about people who give moms the stink eye for toting a giant stroller on a public bus? You'd think these people were attacking her for breastfeeding or, well, something that kids actually need to survive.
So let me just lay a little bit of knowledge on those kinds of parents -- the Desroches included -- your kid doesn't need a stroller, and neither do you.
You just want one.
And in the immortal words of one Mr. Mick Jagger, "you can't always get what you want."
Would you boycott a restaurant that banned strollers?
Image via Kevin Poh/Flickr
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