Sunday, May 13, 2007

No such thing as perfect

It's a shame that I can't seem to manage to post more than once a week. There is something about the insanity of my life that does not allow for more than that at this time. Which sounds a lot like an excuse when I was really just making an observation. Oh the endless guilt..........

So the green goblin (Tike Tech 360 double in Lime Green for those just tuning in) arrived in perfect time (read as the day before I was to be taking both kids to the zoo and panicking about how I was going to convince the older one that walking 5 miles was good for her mini-legs). Let's start with the good (because I like to think of my self as a "glass half full" type. Unless of course that glass contains Sangiovese Davinci Chianti, Tuscany - www.wine.com/wineshop/product_detail.asp?PProduct_ID=GLO4837115_2005&cid=afflinkshare87998; in which case I am a "glass totally empty" type.)

THE GOOD
1. It is cute. I might even venture to say hip and sleek. I had many a glance my way at the zoo (made me feel like the hot girl in the bar - something I NEVER was). A few daring moms even asked what it was and where I bought it.
2. It took no more than 20 minutes of my very non-technically inclined time to put together.
3. Both kids felt comfy and secure.
4. It has a HUGE storage basket.
5. It is easy to push and turn.
6. Did I mention it was cute??
7. The brake was easy to use.
8. It was easy to open and easy enough (once I got the hang of it) to close.
9. The only major issue I had (to be addressed in the "the bad" list) was quickly resolved by a call to the company. They offered to ship me a replacement part the next day.

THE BAD
1. A snap on the storage basket was broken. I rigged it fixed for now and they are shipping me a new one this week.
2. It is heavy. Not awful, but no Zooper Tango.
3. There is a five point harness where every piece has to be undone to get the kids in and out. This takes no less than a full minute each time.
4. The aforementioned harness has clips that are soooo hard to open and close (I assume they will loosen with time) that I hurt my fingers each time. Heaven forbid you were a mom with a manicure!
5. There is a clicking sound I can't get to the bottom of that is a bit concerning.
6. My parents are going to KILL me when I leave the kids with them in two weeks (for the weekend) and they have to figure it all out. I am prepared to give an on site tutorial at the airport before they take the kids and we (the husband and I) head into NYC for a kidless
weekend. More on that another time.

THE RATING
A- (might have been a B+ if it didn't make me look cooler than I am)

THE BOTTOM LINE
There is no such thing as a perfect double stroller. I'd like to make it my mission to design one, but I lack three essential things - a degree in industrial/product design, time, perfection.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Follow up

For those of you wondering (again not sure who "you" are) what I decided to do for a double stroller once I got past the Zooper Tango fiasco; I have ordered the Tike Tech 360 http://www.tiketech.com in Lime Green from Target http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-9/qid=1178503936/ref=sr_1_9/602-0035920-1631866?ie=UTF8&asin=B000MN9NPS and it should be here in the next few days. Yes I know the color is a bit bright, but I was hoping it would be blinding enough that passersby would notice the color and not the fact that a jogger stroller was NEVER being used to jog with. I'll be sure to post about it as soon as I have had a chance to test it out on the open road.

The A says aaaaaaaaaaaaa

The single best recommendation I ever received from another parent, I was lucky enough to receive early in the play date her daughter had with mine. We chatted over coffee about the kids and their progress etc. We were talking about her older daughter writing her own name and when she mentioned that though she did not really allow her kids to watch too much TV (bless her, she is a better parents than I) she believed that Leap Frog's Letter Factory www.leapfrog.com/Primary/PreschoolKindergarten/PRD_letterfact_dvd/Letter+Factory153+Video+DVD.jsp
and Word Factory www.leapfrog.com/Primary/PreschoolKindergarten/PRD_wordbuilder_dvd/Talking+Words+Factory153+Video++DVD.jsp DVD's were responsible for both of her children's advanced knowledge of all of the letters and their sounds as well as how to recognize and spell several short words. Thank g-d I got this advise early on as I mentioned, because by the end of the play date my three year old decided to change her daughter's poopy diaper and her mother was left to pick up small doody balls from my Berber carpet.
With that said, since my daughter was the offender of the doody ball on carpet incident, I decided to heed her advise and ask for these DVDs for my older daughter (3 at the time) for the holiday's . Let's just say that this was the best $9.99 each (they were on sale at Target) my in-laws EVER spent. These DVDs are set up like movies (potentially to trick the little un's past the "this is actually educational " part). They are engaging, interesting, repetitive (yes, you too will know EVERY letter and it's sound, which is good for those of us suffering from 2nd child sleep deprivation who need the refresher).

I am not kidding within weeks my daughter who previously recognized all of the letters but not been able to correlate the sounds - knew them all. Then, soon after she could put them together to make small words. I was thrilled and amazed and so grateful for the doody balls on the Berber. By the way thanks to Katherine for the reminder on this one.