The first major baby-related purchase has been made.
Graco Mirage Plus and Stepford Wife
We bought last year’s model (gasp! How are we going to keep up with the Jones now?) which is why I can’t seem to find the model on the Graco Travel Systems page.
I assembled the thing once we got it home. sticking the wheels on and so forth. It made me feel rather responsible and fatherly. An unusual sensation, but one I rather enjoyed.
Angie is creeping up on 20 weeks now. That makes the pregnancy almost half complete.
Considering this we went on a reconnaissance mission to see what prams look like. We were particularly interested in the numbers on the price-tag, but other aspects are seemingly of some importance too. The problem was that we weren’t entirely sure what those important things were.
The only part of the pram that we’d ever had to deal with before was the price, and it typically had too many digits in a row for our liking.
Angie was a little better informed than me, but only just.
“It needs one-button folding!”
“Mobility! Manoeuvrability!”
“Sunroof!”
“How the hell does this thing recline?”
As we clumsily inspected the various models I had a growing sensation of ignorance and stupidity. I realised that I didn’t know what I was looking for, and Angie agreed that some research regarding what features a pram should have was needed. I proposed an internet investigation. Angie agreed. This thorough investigation begins tonight. I hope I will soon be better informed, but I have my doubts.
I want pram reviews to be like camera or computer game reviews — but what are the odds of that?
We also found a place selling cots. Thankfully cots seem easier to fathom. There are fewer moving parts. They serve one basic function, unlike prams these days which involve a car-seat, entertainment area, sleeping area, sunroof, awnings, off-road wheels, slick-tyres, storage compartments, cup-holders, isobaric chamber (don’t what your baby getting the bends) and god knows what else.
Cots are pieces of furniture and seem less inclined to double as fashion accessories. The whole concept of designer prams vexes me. My difficulty at the moment is that I don’t really know what constitutes a designer pram. Which brands are the premier ones? I haven’t a clue.
Help me before I blunder and buy the pram Britney Spears chose.
Update: My first steps into researching pram products has left me reeling. Prams and pushchairs/strollers are not the same thing — I thought they were. I have been labouring under a delusion. As I see it at the moment, the pram will become useless in six months, and we’ll need to buy a stroller. However, I am still a little fuzzy on the details here and they both may still be equivalent. I resent the fact that buying a pram appears to be as confusing and unintuitive as an understanding of quantum mechanics.
Then they have “travel systems.” Do these combine car seats, prams, strollers, and rocket ships? I have no frigging idea. I’m sure it all comes down to some probability wave that’ll be collapsing on my head any moment now.
Paternity Ward 