I saw a child who was at least four years old strapped into a stroller the other day in NYC. The nanny was pushing a double decker stroller with a younger child strapped into the bottom section, they were walking through a crowded organic food store, and the older child was demanding to be let out of the stroller, but she was securely belted in.
For everyone who hasn't read earlier posts here, get your children out of the stroller when they can walk or even toddle! And, when a child is old enough to use full sentences to demand release, there's something wrong if you keep them tied up. No need to waste money on Montessori school or other private school tuition if you are going to do that.
Later, I realized I should have run home, gotten my camera, come back, and taken a picture for that nanny cam site that I heard about. Next time I go to the store, the camera will be with me, so maybe I'll have a photo to share.
What would you have done? I didn't want to say something snarky to the nanny, or, hey, even rather kind, because then I would have been walking away, leaving her in a bad mood with someone else's children. It didn't seem like a good idea, but I wish I'd done something...
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Encourage Exploration and Creativity
13 years ago
2 comments:
I would love for you to expound on ways to keep your child from running off when not in a stroller. I am new to the Montessori ideas and have a 22-month-old. I have tried to take him places without a stroller, but he takes this as an opportunity to run, not walk. He usually runs in a direction we aren't going and refuses to stay near me. In crowded places such as the one you described in your post, that would be a nightmare for me to have my child running away and possibly getting lost -- perhaps the parents of the child asked the nanny to keep their children in the stroller for that reason. My child *doesn't* speak full sentences and *doesn't* understand everything I say. Don't you think it's possible that some children are more of the explorer type than the walk-by-my-side type? In any case, if you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Actually, we used our stroller until my daughter was about 3. But just in crowded places like the mall. She enjoyed riding in it.
She got *plenty* of time to walk, run, etc. at home and playing outside, so it wasn't hindering her development to use it.
I don't think strollers are bad once kids can walk, they just need to be used judiciously.
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