The Brake Is My Friend

I am not a runner. Never have been, and especially not now that I am pregnant. But I got my run in this morning whether I wanted it or not.

First of all, it was freezing outside and I would rather have stayed home, but I really needed to run (no pun intended) some errands . So I got the boys all bundled up and headed out.

At our first stop, I pulled my hood up over my head, jumped out of the van, and got the stroller out as fast as I could. "It's not so bad," I thought as I walked around to Cole's side of the van. Just then a gust of wind came from out of nowhere and sent my "it's not so bad" far, far away. That wind was downright shocking, it was so cold.

Not wanting to wait for him to do it himself, I unbuckled Cole as fast as I could. I swept him out of his seat and swung him around to put him in the stroller. But there was a slight problem... the stroller was missing.

My head jerked up and around just in time to see my big, double stroller sailing through the parking lot. The wind had caught it and swept it away so fast that in the 3 seconds I had my back to it, it was already across the aisle, almost to the next row of cars. At the speed it was going, I was worried that it might put a little ding into the side of the parked car it was headed for.

"Stay here. I have to get the stroller!" I yelled as I quickly took off. Somehow the stroller managed to miss the parked car and redirected it's course through the empty space next to it. I was glad it hadn't hit anything, but desperately wanted it to stop. Or at least slow down.

The wind picked up it's speed, and so did my stroller. "This is crazy!" I thought, as I picked up my speed, trying to catch the thing before it rammed into a parked car, or got hit by a moving one.

Now when some people run, it is something wonderful to behold. They seem lighter than air, with grace, strength and elegance oozing from their every step. And then there are others, like me, who's body parts look completely at odds with each other with every heavy, earth-pounding thud.

So there I was, swollen belly and all, running as fast, and as least awkwardly, as I could to catch an empty runaway stroller. I'm sure I looked as ridiculous as I felt.

I finally caught my rogue stroller and turned to hurry back to the van and 2 boys. Cole was smiling giddily. "What happened, Mommy?" His voice chirping with laughter and excitement.

Chuckling at the ridiculousness of the situation, I said breathlessly, "The wind blew the stroller away and I had to go catch it."

Still smiling, Cole replied, "You forgot to put the brake on, didn't you, Mommy?"

Ahem. Yes, thank you, Cole, for that little reminder. I believe I did forget the brake.

But lesson learned: The brake is my friend...even on strollers!