Baby on Board

Remember back in the day, when the model Volvo you drove marked your status as a new parent? And, of course, your safety concerns were punctuated with a little yellow diamond proclaiming, “Baby on Board!”

These days, status is determined not only by choice of car, but also by choice of stroller. The next time you are in a target rich environment, like a shopping mall, notice the sideways glances new parents cast to see what make and model of stroller others are pushing. The top contenders: Bugaboo ($700-900), Maclaren ($300-400), and Peg Perego ($200-300). The A-types among us will even scoff if they see you with an Evenflo or, horrors, a Graco (although, the new ultralightweight and portable Graco system has recently been spotted hobnobbing with the hoity-toity!).

We’ve fallen into the trap ourselves: on a recent outing we pushed Penny around in a borrowed, late model American-made behemoth with cup holders for days. The white molded plastic looked dingy, and the dark blue pen striped fabric didn’t even match her outfit! We had to chuckle at a few of our fellow, snobby new parents who briefly looked down their noses at the unfashionable thing.

Which brings us to our own confession of snobbishness. The stroller we plop Penny in is so elite it’s not even available for purchase in the United States! That’s right, it’s an imported Quinny Zapp, which, when collapsed, is the smallest stroller on the market (perfect for the boot of a Mini). Dad picked it up in Montreal while on business and smuggled the contraband south of the border.

The Zapp throws a wrench in the pecking order. Since nobody knows what it is, how do you know its relative level of elitism? Where does it fall in relation to the big boys?

With luck, our relative coolness is enhanced by the Zapp’s novelty. After all, what better way to build our bourgeois, yuppy street cred than to have discovered the next big thing in infant/toddler, non-motorized, parent-propelled transportation! That's how we roll.