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Do You Lock Up Your Stroller?

July 13, 2011 by Lance Somerfeld

The New York Times published an article the other day, The Stolen Stroller: An Urban Bourgeois Problem?, (by Elissa Gootman) that made me half chuckle as well as reflect on the number of times that I left our $800 stroller unattended.  For example, most children’s venues in NYC have little or no space to house strollers.  Consequently, we are forced to park our strollers outside the venue, fend for ourselves, and assume the risk!  It’s funny because I was always concerned about making sure that I took the diaper bag (attached to the stroller) with me that was basically deemed worthless – who wants a diaper bag that smells like spit up, and is filled with diapers, A & D ointment, wipes, and some snack cups?

The past year, I have not been as concerned about our stroller being stolen, as I exchanged our sleek Bugaboo in for the much more practical and affordable Maclaren Triumph umbrella stroller.  This stroller gets beat up as it gets stowed underneath airplanes and schlepped on subways and buses.

Stroller theft is something to think about in New York City.  The parks or playgrounds that we traverse are huge, and we park our strollers on the side, and spend most of the time chasing around our tots – not concerned about whether someone is going to rip off your stroller.  I know a mom who lives on the fourth floor of a walk-up building and rather than carry up their bulky and pricey stroller every day, they leave it unattended on the bottom floor.  Sure enough, one day, it went missing.  The mom had told me that she “felt violated” that someone would take something that belongs to an innocent baby.  She reported the crime to the police – case has never been solved.  While I think that particular case is rare, I still believe that most parents do not spend much time considering the fact that their $500 – $1,000 strollers are real assets…and probably should be locked up like a bicycle or left with a valet like a car!  Your thoughts?  What do parents in the suburbs think about this?

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Filed Under: gear, NYC Tagged With: New York Times, strollers

About Lance Somerfeld

Lance Somerfeld, a co-founder of City Dads Group, lives with his wife and son in New York City. He frequently contributes to the conversation about modern fatherhood, work-life balance, shifting gender roles, and brand’s marketing to dads. He has appeared on local and national television, including CNN, Today and Katie. He has been quoted by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, GQ, Parenting and The Atlantic.

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