Good point. I have known people to do that and I do not agree with that kind of behavior. When I worked in daycare parents were supposed to pay us if they were late to pick their kids up. The day care didn’t pay us for that extra time and I can’t tell you how many parents would say, “I don’t have any cash. I’ll get you next time.” I can count on my hands the number of times someone actually paid me. They forced me to work for free and it made me sad not only because I wasn’t getting paid, but because I loved watching those children and spent a lot of quality time with them. It’s no fun to be the last kid picked up day after day and I made a point to make that time special for them. I only wish the parents would’ve recognized that and paid me accordingly 🙁

Oh no Beatrice! Now I’m going to have to check out all of the strollers and car seats you listed! If we have a second, (still not so sure about that one), I will definitely spend more money for better quality and comfort and the same goes for my son moving forward. I SO wish I had come to that conclusion earlier.

Thanks for this lengthly comment Ellen K. I totally agree that strollers are a necessity and worth spending money on. I just wish I had come to that conclusion earlier. Also I love your comment about convenience. Since I’m staying home with my son and no longer bringing in a paycheck these are all things I have to keep in mind!

I didn’t have time to comment directly on your post about lessons of the past year, but I read it and was going to comment that one of the most important things anyone ever told me as a SAHM was simply, “Convenience isn’t a dirty word. Your time is money, too.” If you have to pay $8-15 for an hour of babysitting ($10/hr is the going rate here in STL), then shopping at different stores for the best deals isn’t really saving you money. The make-do mindset is worthy to a point, but there’s a fine line between making do and martyrdom and I’ve seen an awful lot of friends cross it (as well as myself on a few occasions!).

Consignment or Craigslist is a good idea. I have a few other baby items I could try to sell at the same time. I thought about handle extensions, (they make them for wheelchairs), but I didn’t think they would fit properly, because the handle to the stroller is pretty rounded. Overall though I didn’t like the way my stroller maneuvered either, so the new one is better for reasons other than just height.

But since you did, how about trying to sell the old stroller on craigslist or somewhere similar (to a shorter person). If you hardly used it, you may be able to get a good portion of the cost back. Or maybe try selling to a consignment shop.

And I understand about the too short, back pain thing. We have a vacuum with an extendable handle. When my boyfriend puts it away, he always puts the handle all the way down. Often when I am about halfway through vacuuming (our small apartment), my lower back will start to ache like crazy. Then I realize that I’ve not pulled the handle up and have been vacuuming slightly bent over the whole time. I feel like an idiot every time, but that doesn’t stop me from doing the same thing a month or two later.