purple room vents: BABY JUNK

Yesterday we went to Courtenay on the Island to see Kevin and family. We had the most awesome wonderful time. They are growing so fast and its always too short a visit. Tandy was pleased with the twenty meals we delivered! It was so interesting to see the differences in the kids as they get older.

On the way back on the ferry I noticed something I just have to blog about. I apologize in advance if this is offensive to the new moms out there that are bogged down with baby paraphernalia. I mean no judgement, just sympathy.

Bill and I got onto the ferry at dinner time. We bought our dinner and proceeded to the seating area. It was obviously summer time as the boat was full of families, lots of little kids (whom I still maintain are the most miserable unhappy group of humans on the planet earth). As we sat there, I started to remember travelling with my own babies over the years on these same ferries, but with a huge difference.

It was so simple back then. You had one bag with a bottle, soother, diaper or two, change of clothes and a toy. Your baby was plunked into a simple slim umbrella stroller...25 bucks at the local store. Sometimes, if the baby were really small, you strapped a simple baby seat called a "cuddle seat" into the stroller with a small roll of a receiving blanket to support its head. And that was it. Simple. Easy. Containable.

But now.....holy hannah! I can see why you may need an SUV to go anywhere!!! Keep in mind, you are on the ferry for maybe 1 1/2 hours at most. This is what I saw everywhere with various aged babies....

Giant, oversized, cushioned, sprung with shocks, racks and hanging attached colour co-ordinated bags everywhere, removable seats, strollers.....the size of small volkswagon beetles. One, or sometimes two, overstuffed diaper bags, baby coolers with snacks and drinks, blankets, at least ten different educational toys, small suitcases full of clean clothes, standing racks for toddlers on the back of the strollers, puzzles and books for the toddlers, booster seats, and on and on and on. Jesus Murphy People!!! Its an hour and a half!!!! You can't hold your kid and entertain them without the visual aids for that long? (okay, I admit it, that was judgemental) Its just sad that this generation of moms feel they can't go anywhere without all that .......stuff.

It got me remembering how we used to travel...before all that crap was invented and then marketed to moms....basically making them think they are less than perfect if they don't have it all. We used to carry our babies upstairs, put them on our lap, play with them, give them a spoon to bang on the table, feed them tid bits from our own dinners, let them crawl around on the floor, chase the toddlers down the long aisles, other people would catch a runaway for us, very hands on and easy easy easy! Babies were passed around...literally....old folks, teenage girls, all perfect strangers that love babies would get a turn. People would offer a tired busy mom to chase an active running toddler around and around the ferry. Things have changed so much. Simplicity, community.....not there anymore.

And the saddest thing of all? They will never know what it was like to get on a ferry, carry your baby upstairs, and let all the people interact and help you with your kids. You made friends, picked up tips on all sorts of things to do with kids, heard stories, learned new little entertaining games to distract and before you knew it you were arriving and in about two minutes you were back in your vehicle all settled in. Simple and easy and fun. And do you know who really pays the price? The kids. They will never know just how much fun the ferry can be and how much fun people are. Its too bad.