Alternate Transportation

I've tried all modes of transportation for transporting my large number of children. When the triplets were born, we used the double Peg Perego Stroller and balanced the third, ever so gingerly between their two siblings. (I wish I would have taken a picture!)

When they got older and I needed to go on long walks to maintain my sanity gather my thoughts during the witching hour, I purchased a Triple Baby jogger.
It wasn't long after, I decided we needed something that was able to fit through doorways without tearing down the doorjambs, so I bought the Choo Choo Wagon from a friend of mine.

When surprise baby number four came into our lives, we used to tote her around in a simple umbrella stroller.

Then I realized that it was inherent that I had something that I could tote ALL FOUR monsters around in, confining them to one space. It was then that I bought the Cadillac of all strollers, the most attention getting monstrosity that hitched to the back of my van, The Runabout, 4-seater.

Although it was a great mode of transportation, it had three things against it.

Number 1: It caused a ruckus wherever we went, inviting more questions to flow from strangers' mouths than ever before.

Number 2: My dear husband was convinced that it was much too... how shall I say this... institutional looking for his taste.

Number 3: There was an exact science for the loading/unloading procedure that did not allow for mistakes to be made. To guarantee that Baby number four, comfortably tucked in the rear seat, wasn't thrown to the ground like a dirty rag, it was inherent that loading ALWAYS happened from front to back, and that unloading ALWAYS happened from back to front! If my memory serves me correctly, Annie only hit the ground once before I learned the technique.

After dishing out at least 2 weeks salary to pay for strollers, it only took one New Year's Eve, shopping at Kohl's at 8:30 pm to realize what I should have done from the beginning. It's probably not politically correct, and the ACLU would probably fine me for it, but it worked better than any of the above modes of transportation. A simple wheelchair!

I loaded my two shoppers into the lone wheelchair that was sitting near the door, and we shopped to our hearts' content.

And when they were done riding, I planted my butt in the seat and I got a push from my clan. An impossible task with any of the above modes of transportation!