Pushchairs at 10 paces

I have now been making use, for some weeks, almost every day, of a pram.  Now, as I've stated before, I am not perfect, but equally, this is my fifth child and I do have a few years practice.
I had been on maternity leave for a few months before having my little Chloë and already had a number of observations about the way I'd seen others tackling their pushchairs...
These are as follows...


Firstly,

Women with small children in prams/pushchairs seem to think that when out with said baby transport it is the appropriate opportunity to make some very large purchases (bags of ballpit balls, stair gates, boxes of 1000's of nappies) and either loaded the pushchair up and caused it to become very unstable (i.e breath of wind tips it over) or so wide that it looks like it deserves its own police escort and flashing warning lights (oh, and is still very unstable and tips over when mother lets go again!)

Next,

When pushing a small infant (less than 6 months old) it is essential to use a stroller (which of course does not recline properly) so that small child cannot lie back properly at all and is uncomfortable through-out the shopping trip and cries constantly, which just adds to the enjoyment already being experienced by the mother who is also trying to make a reluctant pre-schooler hold the pushchair and walk at the speed she is pushing it .....

Next,

Mother has decided that "Little Johnny" is far too delicate to walk, despite being 5, being in uniform, and clearly having been just picked up from school.

Next,

Mummy thinks that it is clearly more appropriate to put the shopping in the pushchair and push it whilst carrying the tiny baby ALL the while wearing flip-flops.......

Or even (and to some extent most frustrating to me)

Mummys with children capable of using their feet and wearing shoes, still insisting on using a pushchair, but taking them out of said pushchair on a bus, and leaving the pushchair up in the ridiculously limited space reserved for pushchairs, and refusing to fold them up for those actually needing the space i.e. wheelchair users, disabled or elderly people with walking frames, or even other mummys with very young babies in prams etc who cannot walk. I have been forced to sit with my carrycot on my lap in this situation because I needed to pick one of my other children up from school and there were two very selfish women already using the space - both their children were sat on their laps NOT in their pushchairs!

I have others, but I'll leave it there for now.

I do not often judge people but I hate selfishness. I have always bought my children up to share and think of others and cannot understand why others seem unable to do this simple thing. It is simply courteousness and takes no effort.
I also dislike people who clearly do not think about what they are doing......

Or maybe I'm judgmental and unfair. Either way, it's still shows a lack of fore-thought.

Look I know its hard to be a mum but when did you loose your brain?

A couple of days ago I was on a bus bringing my youngest home from school (the last of my 8 buses a day routine) when a couple of stops later I noticed two young women with prams waiting to get on.

Now, at the stop my daughter and I had boarded the bus, a woman with serious walking difficulties & her son had also got on, and taken a seat at the front of the vehicle, along with her walking frame - using one of the two spaces which can also be used by prams/pushchairs. This meant the room left for such users was now reduced to either a single pram (ie one which was lying back) or a couple of pushchairs (strollers) which take up a bit less space.

The two women got to the bus, the first took up the empty area, and used it up obviously, then the second got on and stood in the aisle, looking at the lady with her son, until they obviously felt so uncomfortable with this that they felt forced to move very slowly & painfully much further down the bus!!
I was livid!!!

What on earth gave that young lady the right to expect this less-able woman to give up the seat she needed close to the exit, just because they couldn't be bothered to wait just 15 minutes longer for the next one?

I'm not unfeeling.

I have personal experience of the difficulty of using public transport with young children, and all the paraphernalia which accompanies them. I have four children & at one point my three eldest children were all under 4 years old, but I also know (again through my own personal experience as well as through living with someone who has disabilities) that getting around on buses, trains etc. when you ARE less able bodied is a near impossibility unless other people show care, respect & thoughtfulness - something which seems to be lacking in some younger people, including parents, nowadays. I would very often collapse my pram/pushchair in order to allow a wheelchair user access to the dedicated space on the bus I was travelling on if required because of the infrequency of such buses on some of the routes in our town. If there was a mum with a younger child & I was already using the space, again I would take which ever one of my children was in the pushchair out, and fold it, allowing them the use of the space - it is far more practical to sit with a youngster of 12 or 18 months old on your lap, than a tiny baby of a few weeks or even 6 months old.

What I also can't understand is the complete disdain shown on the faces of people when they are asked if they would mind moving to allow someone to share the space they are in or give it up. Would they prefer the new arrival to just barge in? Or are they so arrogant that they feel they own the air they breathe, the seat they are sitting on, the space they occupy?

Any way to end this discussion on the brainlessness of mothers....

When we gave birth we introduced a new life into a world which is hard enough already without our bad examples. Surely it is our duty to show our children the the ways in which to live with everyone around us. How to show respect to all those who share our world is one of the simplest lessons we should impart to our offspring - is it so hard to include this in the daily actions we do ourselves along with teaching our children to read, write, put on their shoes, and feed themselves.

British and proud of it.

This year as most you will remember, we completed the 2011 census. Alongside this the BBC have been running a series based on the concept of the Mixed Race heritage within British culture, which has developed over the past 100 years or so (Mixed Britannia -Here).
I have brought my children up (hopefully) to respect people no matter what race, colour or faith (or lack of) they are, so felt comfortable watching the programme in order to gain an understanding of just how mixed race relationships have changed society.
I was absolutely amazed to find out just how long ago our society had begun to merge and blend with the cultures coming in as a result of our Empire. Not just this, but with Britain being somewhere that was on the tourist trail, plenty of visitors arriving at our ports and exploring the country to meet the people who had probably never seen exotic, exciting appearing individuals such as those from overseas.

I have to admit having little experience of mixed cultural influences myself, being of white English background,   and growing up in the Home Counties during the 70's & 80's did very little to change this either.
But I would like to hope that my children will change this, that they will, through their own, more balanced, multi-cultural social networks be introduced to people who will become friends & maybe even more than this....
By exploring the huge world of experience available to them through the people now living in our local communities, let alone as my four children begin to start spreading their wings and travel around outside of their "home environment" I genuinely believe that they will learn to be more varied, flexible & understanding individuals, thus becoming generally less insular and this can only be beneficial I feel.

Surely, this it what it means to be British? -  Multicultural & Proud of it!