A 9 & 11 year old in a stroller?

[Andtototoo]

Parents today want the easy way out. They would rather push that stroller than deal with the complaints and nagging. Her son would have stopped after 5 minutes, but she started to carry him. He wasn't about to walk after that.

And the reason she has to deal with it, is because she's not willing to be a parent and teach him how to behave. I have visions of a little old lady hauling her 6 foot 200 pound son around on her back just to stop him from whining.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would never do it to my children, and I do think its ridiculous, but its not my business if someone else wants to put their own older children in a stroller.

True...but it was a topic brought up for discussion and I was commenting on the person that was surprised of the direction of the thread in comparison to other boards.

While it isn't our business, people are curious enough to ask questions on what they should do about it, and "make the kids walk" is a fair response, even if doesn't affect us.

 

[Michelle67]

I couldn't push my 11 year old in a stroller if I tried. She's barely smaller than I am. My 7 year old doesn't like to do a lot of walking and grumbles about it, but we stop and take breaks when he really needs to, and tell him to buck up the rest of the time. He's a tiny, skinny little thing and I could easily push him in a stroller. He would gladly let me in a place like Disneyland, but WHY? You want the rides, you walk to get to them buddy! It probably doesn't help that my husband reverts to Marine mode and covers ground like he's got 10 more miles to go...so I alternate between saying "come on, you're fine" to my son and "WILL you slow down?" to my husband.

But if someone else wants to wear themselves out pushing their kids around, I guess that's fine by me. I'm more mobile and I can beat them to the rides.

 

[Mama-san]

I've not read all of the posts, but it sounds like to me that the mom and all three kids need an a$$ whooping.

 

[SaraJayne]

Honestly, does no one else here think that someone submitted the question as a joke to see what the answer would be? (Probably a DISer, is my guess.)

The folks on the Mom's panel always have to answer questions as if they are sure they are meant to be serious, because you can't have bad PR, but I'm sure that they knew it was a gag question, too. (Just like you never hear a CM respond, "What part of 3 o'clock don't you understand?)

You obviously don't read the Family board.

 

[luvmy3]

True...but it was a topic brought up for discussion and I was commenting on the person that was surprised of the direction of the thread in comparison to other boards.

While it isn't our business, people are curious enough to ask questions on what they should do about it, and "make the kids walk" is a fair response, even if doesn't affect us.

Oh, I know but you asked if people really condone it and I don't think saying its not my business because it doesn't effect me is the same as condoning it.

 

[POPCITY]

DS turned 4 on our first trip, and I'll confess that I never once thought about getting a stroller for him. He was ( and is) a healthy active kid, and had no problems at all walking. Now, at 9, he would probably have to be drugged before he would allow me to put him in a stroller!

 

[powellrj]

You obviously don't read the Family board.

Thats what I was thinking! Its a pretty common question over there!

 

[21hearts]

I think that at 9 and 11 years old the kids should be able to walk..

My 3 year old was able to walk all of AK and Epcot. By day three he was asking to ride in his sister's stroller. If he can go two full days (yeah we had some breaks) then I think an 9 and 11 year old should be able to. (I do get kids with hidden disabilities may need some extra help.)

 

[FoundMyPrince]

I've gone from a thread about an 11 year old wanting to ride in a stroller, to a 13 year old that is pregnant. My head is spinning.

 

[Cinderella94]

I've gone from a thread about an 11 year old wanting to ride in a stroller, to a 13 year old that is pregnant. My head is spinning.

 

[Michelle67]

I've gone from a thread about an 11 year old wanting to ride in a stroller, to a 13 year old that is pregnant. My head is spinning.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I've gone from a thread about an 11 year old wanting to ride in a stroller, to a 13 year old that is pregnant. My head is spinning.

Maybe the 13 year old can share a double stroller with her baby.

 

[MM27]

Took my niece to WDW in April at age 5. A stroller was never even an option. She did just fine and on most days we were out until at least midnight.

If a 9 and 11 year old cannot handle walking around the parks, then they really shouldn't be at Disney World, IMO. Parents need to stop enabling their kids. If the kids get tired, go back to the hotel and take a break. If that's not going to work for your particular party, let the kid sit on a bench and rest or go see a show where they can sit and rest.

 

[disykat]

I don't care what other people do in situations where their choices have absolutely no effect on me at all.....

My post won't be popular but I I disagree. I think society needs a certain amount of peer pressure or shame to help people hold up standards. While too much judgement can be problematic, so can an attitude of anything goes.

Hopefully there are enough people who worry about what other people think and enough people who have opinions about behavioral standards to keep our society from totally being about doing whatever feels good.

Will physically capable 11 year olds in strollers be the end of the world? No. But I don't like the kind message it gives. I think it "have need, want it met" is pretty primal and prefer to live in in a society the requires more of me. I'm teaching my kids to require more of themselves.

 

[Luv'sTink]

And the mom answering the question on the moms panel was trying to be politically correct and not offend anyone and told her to rent one if she needs to. She should have kindly and politely reminded her that NO STROLLER is made to carry 9 & 11 year old children and that children that age should be perfectly capable of walking themselves all day. Umbrella strollers aren't meant for 50 to 60 pound 7 year olds either. Just ridiculous.

Did you "kindly and politely" state your opinion?

 

[Mama Who]

I think part of it is reading the scare stories on forums like this. "Your child will be exhausted and anyone under 10 needs a stroller," "no more than two adults can fit in a budget level hotel," "you must have ADRs to have a decent vacation because the table service restaurants are awful." etc.

Everyone wants to have the best vacation ever, so the scare stories seem believable. People need to understand that these things are opinions, not facts!

That's why people like me continually feel the need to add the opinions that "no need for healthy older kids to have a stroller," "we fit two adults and two adult sized teens in POP with no issues," and "we ate counter service and had a good variety." You really have to hear both sides to get a realistic picture - not just the scare stories.

Also every child in the world has autism and is allergic to peanuts and gluten.

 

[Planogirl]

We seem to be edging closer and closer to a Wall-E world...

 

[GinnyEmma]

My post won't be popular but I I disagree. I think society needs a certain amount of peer pressure or shame to help people hold up standards. While too much judgement can be problematic, so can an attitude of anything goes.

Hopefully there are enough people who worry about what other people think and enough people who have opinions about behavioral standards to keep our society from totally being about doing whatever feels good.

Will physically capable 11 year olds in strollers be the end of the world? No. But I don't like the kind message it gives. I think it "have need, want it met" is pretty primal and prefer to live in in a society the requires more of me. I'm teaching my kids to require more of themselves.

I agree. Peer pressure drives society!

Everyone is making judgments about the world around them. When people holler don't "judge" they are either ignorant or liars.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yeah, I know that there are some people who would ask the question seriously, but at that age it's pretty rare -- I'd say that even among the laziest (otherwise healthy) kids the usual upper end for full-time stroller riding is about six. (The issue in some cases being that those kids don't LOOK like they are six; kids are getter physically bigger these days. One of my nephews was already over 4 feet tall when he turned 6.)

The reason that I read that particular question as an attempt at a joke was the way that it was worded; it just seemed to be baiting for a certain type of response.

PS: Disabled kids are another matter, of course. A mobility aid for the disabled is a mobility aid, regardless of age.