Spring has returned with an invitation to come outside and enjoy the fresh air. Winter's ice and snow have melted away-- gone forever like bad memories, the sidewalks and streets are dry, clear, and passable. Green replaces brown as the color of the local landscape. The Sun is shining bright; there is a fresh crispness in the air as gentle breezes enter through the newly opened windows delivering the invitation. The temperatures hover around sixty degrees. Parents read the invitation again: ?Come, come outside and play, enjoy the outdoors with me??signed ?Spring?.



Mothers and Fathers, who have safely bundled up their babies and toddlers with layers of clothes during the winter months and carried them over the ice and snow, begin to slowly return to the neighborhood sidewalk and streets, parks, and malls, pushing their small babies along in their strollers. New parents or parents-to-be begin to shop for baby strollers so they can join other neighborhood moms or dads who set out for the great outdoors in response to spring's invitation.

Life and people like the budding bushes, flowers, and trees reappear in neighborhoods adding themselves to the mosaic street scenes of springtime. The exercising, health minded parents, in steady paces push their baby or babies in their single or double jogging strollers putting in their scheduled run for the day.

The cyclist enthusiasts lovingly secure their precious little ones in the bike trailers already attached to their choice of transportation, and pedal their way around the neighborhood in streets and on sideways with destinations unknown. Their babies and toddlers in their safety compartment enjoy the nice fresh air from their modern day ?horse-driven? carriage that they have been deprived of all winter long.

With only a sweater or jacket as needed outerwear, they regally take in the sights and sounds of the beautiful fresh spring views as the gentle breezes caress their little faces through the screened windows of the enclosed cart. Mom or dad supplies the ?horsepower? in front of them as they enjoy their ?royal ride? through neighborhood of the local stately mansions.

Elsewhere, neighborhood moms, with Spring's invitation in hand and the other hand on a stroller, join each other leisurely pushing their infants along side by side in single or double umbrella strollers sharing their stories of motherhood, and how they survived the winter doldrums being locked up indoors all season long. Each new breath of spring's fresh air is really a sigh of relief of freedom for these winter prisoners. Off to the local park they go to join other proud parents to present their blessed children to each other (maybe for the first time), share parenting strategies and techniques, and catch up on the latest happenings in their neighborhoods.

Strollers these days come in many brand names, such BOB, Maclaren, TikeTech, and Bugaboo with different models that cater to sports minded parents, all-terrain, walking, jogging, cycling or hybrids. There are wide varieties of shapes and sizes for single, double, or triple passengers. They have umbrella type coverings, retractable canopies, prams, open air types, or enclosed cabins. Like in a paint store the colors are plentiful. There are three wheelers and four wheelers. There are set wheels and swivel wheels. They may have one carrying compartment or multiple compartments for the journey's needed cargo. There's something to meet every parent's need to safely share the lovely outdoors and warm weather with their precious little child or children.

So let the good times roll as moms and dads, walking, jogging, or biking return to the sidewalks and streets of our neighborhoods; and remind us all to look for that invitation to enjoy the outdoors, the fresh air, and the new life all around us, especially when we peek into those strollers to get a glimpse of the cute little babies who are their passengers.

By Robert Walsh