Sunday, May 17, 2009

I'VE HAD IT! (Post full 'o bile)

I'm so stinking tired of reading online that I'm not welcome someplace with my double-wide stroller!  I know I'm hormonal right now (not pregnant... this month), but it is SO rubbing me the wrong way.  I shopped really hard to find us something that would make the kids happy (sitting next to each other) and would still be useful (i.e. no wider than a wheelchair so we can go thru single-sized doors).  Everytime I see these comments wishing that double-wide strollers would be banned at the Portland Farmer's Market the Mama Bear in me just gets furious.  I saw it on Twitter (specifically a Yelp guy -- that was a while ago so I'm sure the Tweet is gone by now), then on Dave Knows: Portland, and now OurPDX.  Just which of these things are they trying to tell me?
  • If you have to keep your almost-4-year-old in a stroller then you're a bad parent. He should be under control and able to walk along side you. Oh, he has Down syndrome? Oh. (That's when I see the thought bubble over their head wondering why I didn't do what the other 90% of women do and abort him. Because disability is part of the normal human condition! He's not a thing to be pitied or that should have been "put out of his misery" or "spared" from having to live. He's a wonderful little boy with a great sense of humor and I thank God that I get to be his mom.)
  • If you already had this kid with special needs, why did you have another kid? (Uh, cuz sometimes married couples celebrate and, well, sometimes pregnancy results. Did you not take health class in school? Besides that, the plan was a family of 5 so we *did* back off.)
Most people that talk to us think my kids are twins. What if they were? Should I have given one up for adoption so as not to burden your day with a double-stroller?

So here I am with 2 toddlers that I love and DO NOT REGRET HAVING and you think that means that I should stay in my house and out of your precious little way?  No!!!  We are a part of your community and that means that we are out in the community doing things and living life.  You need to get off your high horse and stop looking down your nose at us. Say "Hi!" We're friendly and enjoy meeting new people. Quit picking on me, my kids and my G-D stroller!  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Hopefully this will get the bile out of my system and I can stop leaving comments saying a MUCH milder form of this on other peoples' blogs.  (Sorry, Dave.)

3 comments:

  1. People are so...not nice. I have to deal with these kinds of people every freakin' day. My sympathies.
    Maybe you should get a flashing light for the top and a sign that says "Wide Load"... Ha!
    Good luck. Happy strollering!

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  2. We have a Sit N Stand and a double wide jogging stroller for our two youngest. We just use whatever works for where we are going.

    You can't please everyone, just do what works for your family. The Farmers Market is crowded with or without double wide strollers.... some people just like to be bossy about things they know nothing about :)

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  3. I know this is a post from last year, but I AM a mommy with a four year old that has Down Syndrome and it burns me like Joan of Arc when some 'man' deems these things unnecessary that mommies need. You know what I find unnecessary about men? Comb overs, pious egos, penis envy, misogyny, ageism and the list could carry on but I'll limit my characters to a few hundred. Spring is on the way, farmers market will thrive and being a former Portlander myself, I say take that double stroller out there and tell'em they can tell it to the 'Gorge'!

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