When I was young and naive I would witness “crazy“ parents walking through public areas with a leash/backpack leash on and think to myself, “Wow, that’s ridiculous! Why would anyone put a leash on their child?! They aren’t a dog!”
What an idiot I was.
For the last two years, my step-daughter has been on a competitive gymnastics team that travels for meets. These meets generally last about 4 hours (reconsidering gymnastics now huh?) on top of the average 1.5-2 hour drive to get there. For the first year, traveling with an infant wasn’t so bad. She usually slept to and from the meets and lounged in her stroller the entire time we were there. No big deal.
Now, said infant, has reached toddler-hood. She will occasionally sleep for the driving portion of the day... OCCASIONALLY. Then when we arrive at the meet, she has zero interest in being strapped in her stroller. Honestly, who can blame her? No one wants to ride, strapped down, for 2 hours just to get out of the car to be harnessed into the sitting position for another 4. Especially not a someone with the wild energy of a 16 month old. She would scream and cry and scream and cry a little more. We would hold her and try to soothe her, but what a losing battle.
So after one particularly long meet I was done with it. I went on Amazon and bought a leash back pack. Merry Christmas kid.
Last night we busted this bad boy out and I will never go back. Kimber was able to have about a 4 foot radius of roaming space and took advantage of every inch. There was a few minutes of an adjustment period, where she was not happy about something strapped to her back. Then she realized she was able to walk around us a bit and she was good to go. She loved being able to cheer for sissy and jump around.
All of the parents and grandparents near us laughed with us at how awkward, yet game changing it can be. Then on the way to the concession stand, it happened. Some teen kids walked by snickering, “take my kid on a walk like a dog”. And you know what? I laughed. Because it does look a bit ridiculous! But I’m not concerned with what others think at this point. The leash works for our family and that’s all that really matters. It solves the toddler tantrums. And what teens don’t yet truly know, is that the world is scary.
Children are snatched every second. Nearly 800,000 children under the age of 18 are reported missing in the U.S. every year. An average of 2,185 EVERY DAY. You take your eyes off of them for a second and they can be gone. So if looking a little different to the norm keeps us safe and happy, then we are in.
Here’s a link to the exact one we have! https://www.amazon.com/shop/slaywithkay__?listId=BX2ABHUOGF06&ref=idea_share_inf
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