We’d only arrived at their house when we were led into the sitting room to see a multifunctional, interchangeable must-have for modern parents.
The pram of today is a crafted mixture of modern design meets the Flinstone’s. The shiny silver handlebars are offset by the enormous black inflated wheels of the pram. The sheer size of the unit is surprising and I found myself wondering what would happen if two of these monsters ever met head-on, on the main street. I mean “Which one will step out into the road to get around the other?”
Worse still perambulating through shops must be hellish as the width of the prams leaves little space for other shoppers. I’d be forever apologizing to people. “I’m so sorry….. I’m dreadfully sorry…… was that your foot? There’s really no weight in it…. Alice is only 8 lbs ….Opps there I go again….Yes, hold on. I’ll slip her into reverse now and it won’t take a minute… Excuse me can you move that old lady’s stick? Just a millimetre to the left, Great, Thanks.”
“Oh drat now she’s fallen over……she’s 87 really?…well I must say she’s looking good for it. Can I what? Take the pram off her leg? Sure.
“Gosh it’s hot in here isn’t it?”
I flippantly said to son in-law-to-be “what happens when the wheels get a puncture?”He said “Hey, it actually happens!” so he had placed his bicycle pump and repair kit in the nappy changer bag. Good Lord!
I can hear that emergency call emanating on a busy Saturday morning from a city centre street.
“Hello, is that the AA?”
“Yes, Sir – how can I help?”
“I’d like a patrol sent to Grafton Street Dublin 2”
“Yes, Sir – what’s the vehicle registration number and the problem?”
“It’s a Bugaboo, serial number 1567894/H – it’s got a flat tyre on the front left. Hit a pothole as I cornered Wicklow street a few minutes ago. It’s totally flat now”
“I’m afraid it will be 20 minutes before a team will get to you. Have you unstrapped the spare that hangs on the underside of the cot?”
“No – hold on” “My word – you’re right there it is”. Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll just jack her up and slip on the spare”
“Pleased to be of service – have a nice day!”
Yes, I can see that happening with one of these monsters.
However, there are definitely tangible benefits that come with the prams. They will cover the first 3 years of a baby’s life and are ultra safe to use.
The other big plus is their interchangeability. Like transformers, they can be unclipped, clipped, rotated and screwed into any number of uses. One minute it’s a pram, next it’s a car seat, next a buggy and finally a carrycot. The car seat requires you to buy the car jack which enables the car seat to screw into the body of the car.
Being caring grandparents we sought to contribute to our grandchild so my wife volunteered to buy the baby car seat. We thought €250 was a reasonable sum. It was thankfully accepted by the couple but they were spending over €1,000 on the Bugaboo set of parts needed to operate the system. The car jack was €250 on its own.
I just could n’t see my wife proudly pointing to a crowbar piece of metal and saying that we bought that for the grandchild!
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