who's driving?

One day, having lent out our stroller, I was confronted with the prospect of going to Home Depot and holding Jalen in my arms the whole time. While pushing a dirty shopping cart with one hand and struggling to hold a heavy, writhing baby in the other arm, I couldn't help but fantasize about having a stroller with me. Ironically, at checkout, the cashier (a lady probably my mother's age) told me how impressed she was that I was actually holding my baby and that it's a shame how nowadays most babies are confined to a stroller. Another older lady in line seemed to agree with her. I joked with them about my arm falling off but never revealed my desire for a stroller. Looking deeper into it than I needed to, I couldn't help but think how much raising children has changed from our parents' generation. They had only a portion of the baby gadgets that we do today--did they even have car seats? And imagine the wealth of baby information accessible to us not only in books but the internet. It's like learning to drive with a manual in front of us as opposed to learning to drive in the dark with no lights on. Nowadays babies are born with instructions and have more things than they really need. We are a generation of parents obsessed with baby information and products. Jalen is obviously the driving force behind our obsession but we've definitely learned to ease up. I have much respect for our parents' generation though--walking down the street, holding their babies with eyes closed and no stroller.