Kiddobeans

Review: Aquadoodles!

My kids are no longer allowed to play with crayons.  I just had to give up on them as the 2-year-olds' artwork began to slowly but surely creep onto the walls of every room in the house.  Why did they always go for the walls when there was plenty of paper available?  My aunt, an early childhood special ed teacher, provided the answer.   Kids learn better when working directly in front instead of bending over.  Coloring on the walls is their natural inclination.  The solution in her classroom was Aquadoodles, and I resolved to give this coloring alternative a try for Little Man's second birthday.

The aptly named Aquadoodles allow kids to "color" with water.  The water goes into a pen or brush with an absorbent tip, and the pens change the color of the special Aquadoodle mat from light blue to dark blue.  The mat can be mounted on the wall and presto! the kids can draw on the walls, meeting their intuitive educational needs with no mess.  As their scribbles dry, the mat returns to its original color, so it is continually reusable. I bought the Aquadoodle Wall Mat, which came with one pen, for $20.00 and the Aquadoodle Accessory Set, which included an extra pen and a paintbrush, for $5.99. 

From the moment we popped it out of the box, I was of two minds about its success.  On the one hand, the kids loved it.  My two-year-olds and their four-year-old cousin jumped right in to "coloring".  They were absolutely delighted watching the different ways the water could spread across the mat depending how hard you pushed the pen.  They drew shapes and asked for letters and numbers.  They shared very well, they played both on their own and with adult input.  It was fun for everyone, and it kept their interest for over an hour on that first day.  Given its success with the target audience, the Aquadoodle mat should have earned a 100% positive review from this Mommy.

Unfortunately, I noticed a fatal flaw even before the kids started playing. When I pulled it from the box, I immediately felt it was too flimsy.  The mat is not really a mat at all, but a thick piece of paper only about as sturdy as a sheet of poster paper.  The toy is marketed for ages 2 and up, and it is just not sturdy enough for that age group.  My Little Man is not very aggressive, but he is, like most little boys, just hard on stuff.  Part of exploring and understanding a toy is to bang it around a little--it's just how toddlers are--and the Aquadoodle Wall Mat was not fit for that kind of treatment.  I was sure he would rip it.  My sister-in-law offered the excellent suggestion of covering the back with contact paper, and I resolved to do so ASAP.  Unfortunately, ASAP was not soon enough.  Little Man ripped the mat almost in half the next day during the course of normal play.  It had been up in the house less than 24 hours.

I taped the rip, coated the back with contact paper, and stuck it back on the wall.  The paper is absorbent, so I was worried that the contact paper would affect its playability.  Though the mat did wrinkle a little bit during use, which I feel happened because of the contact paper backing, this has not diminished the kiddobeans enjoyment of the toy.  It has continued to be a hit, and is great for single or multiple kids from scribblers all the way up to writers.  Apart from the durability issue, the only other (very minor) problem is that the kids can unscrew the pens and dump a small amount of water on the floor.  In general, however, the water is pretty well contained and the Aquadoodles system does keep everything very clean.

I would purchase an Aquadoodles toy again, but I will skip the Wall Mat if I do.  The floor mats appear to be more durable (though without touching one I can't know for sure), and if I purchase again I will attempt to stick the sturdier floor mat onto the wall.  In the meantime, I'm giving a shout out to the Aquadoodles' people:  Hey guys!  Great product, but way too fragile for two-year-olds. Either change the product, or change the marketing!

Review: Peel and Stick Appliques

I have found the best thing for decorating a kid's room.  As I mentioned in my last post, I just did Little Man's whole room in Curious George.  The entire room cost me $25.00, took just minutes to complete, and is 100% reversible.  How awesome is that?

I used these adhesive wall murals called "Peel and Stick".  First, I bought the full-sized mural.  It shows a life-sized George clinging to a bunch of balloons surrounded by clouds and bees with a couple of trees on the ground below.  For $15.00, I was totally delighted.  It is 40 inches high and adds a lot of interest to the basic plain blue walls in Little Man's room.  I've attempted large scale sticker appliqué before (for a stained-glass effect on a window) it was a total fiasco.  It was so big and sticky that I couldn't do it by myself and ended up just making a mess of the whole thing.  That was $30 down the drain.  In spite of the large format, however, this appliqué was super easy.  I put it up in a few minutes with the kids clinging around my ankles as excited distractions.  I removed and repositioned it a couple of times to make it perfect, and my finagling did not in the least affect the stickiness.

Little Man was so happy with George on his wall.  The first thing he said to me every morning for a week was "George!" as he pointed excitedly at the mural.  Little Miss, though pleased with George, had another concern.  "Where George's Man-with-the-Yellow Hat?  George want his Man-with-the-Yellow-Hat."  Her queries took me back to Target looking through the murals again.  $10 bought a package of several sheets of the same peel-and-stick material featuring figures of George and "his" Man-with-the-Yellow Hat varying from about 4" to 8" high.  These little guys formed a great border around the room.  Conveniently tall Phil helped me place the figures in a line around the top of the wall.  We created a solid border around the entire room.  In the process, we created a new game.  I'll ask, "Where is George with the ice cream cone?"  The kids glance all around until one of them spots the 6" tall George holding a tower of ice cream.  Then they cheer and I encourage them to find another George.

Little Man is not going to want a Curious George room forever, and when he tires of it I can simply remove the appliqués without repainting.  I could even reuse them in a different room if I want to.  And the price can't be beat. The only down side is that the appliques would look best on a white or very pale wall.  The bold blue of Little Man's room does dampen the bright colors of the mural just a  little bit.

Our local Target had Spider Man, Thomas the Tank Engine, Barbie, butterflies, animals, flowers, Hello Kitty, Bratz, and a few other kid oriented things.  They are found in the Home Improvement aisle and not in the Kids' Bedroom Decor aisle as you might think.  Unfortunately, nothing really strikes me as perfect for Little Miss' room, but I'll keep looking.  I just ran through Target's website, and they also have dozens of sports teams and logos available, though those are going for nearer $100.00.  I guess they must be going for a different market with those.  $15 and $10 respectively are just about perfect for me!

Review: "I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla"

As I stated in an earlier article, I really enjoyed Marguerite Wright's book on race and children entitled I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World. Though I had not yet finished the book at the time of my last post, I was impressed with its practicality and rational thinking, and even summarized Wrights' "Stages of Racial Awareness" chart on this site because I found it so helpful.  Having now finished the book, I can still recommend it (which I guess is very good for my credibility).  That said, the strength of the book clearly does lie in the first half.  As the book goes on and her examples move from pre-school into  Junior High and High School, the book loses some of its applicability to parents, though it maintains relevance for teachers.

The first chapters of the book, which feature discussions of how preschoolers and early primary school children view race, are both humorous and insightful.  Interviews with real children provide amusing examples of the way in which children process (or rather do not process) race.  I loved learning how young children view such things as skin color, genetics, and family structure.  Preschoolers might identify their "color" as "blue" if they are wearing a blue shirt, for example.  They might say they got their skin color because "God painted me. " They really don't comprehend race at all, and Wright illustrates why it is important to maintain the naivete natural to their maturity level while at the same time taking advantage of their openness to expose them to diverse cultures.

As they enter Junior High and High School, children do have a fully developed sense of the place of race in our adult society.  The situation becomes much more complex, and because of that, the book begins to lose steam.  Wright spends times describing what older children in school tend to do in broad generalities.  For example, African Americans tend to group together, and tend to define themselves by their race rather than by their extra-curricular activities or future plans.  Some African Americans tend to view others as "acting white" if they choose to excel in school work or focus on college prep courses.  Wright provides little assistance for a parent who wants to help his/her adolescent get over this "acting white" nonsense or other racial stereotypes.  In its later chapters, the book is more a report of adolescent behavior than it is a helpful guide for parents.  Though less helpful for parents, these later chapters do provide many tips, some even found in bullet pointed lists, for teachers who would wish to avoid racial stereotyping or bias in their schools. 

This book is not written with transracial families in mind and very view of the examples actually relate to the transracial adoptive family.  Though I feel a family of any race would benefit from the book, the author's primary audience is the African American family.  Wright is very hard when it comes to the negative culture which she feels some in her own race perpetuate.  For example, she pulls no punches when describing the negative impact of the n-word, "good hair" preference, light skin preference, absentee fathers, "whippings", eubonics, and a predisposition to blame all problems on racism.  She feels these and other behaviors which may be found in some Black families are extremely detrimental to African American children's self-concepts of race.  As a White Mom, none of that baggage ever occurred to me, so at times I felt pretty good while reading this book.  I don't believe and would never say that Little Miss has "bad hair" or was "too dark", so this is going to be easy, right?  Ha!  I know that this complacency is ill-founded and that I need to balance Wright's helpful book with information targeted to the transracial adoptive family.  I hope to review one soon--anybody have any suggestions?

Review: Boynton Books

There are times when I love to read out loud with my kids, and there are times when it is a real obligation.  As a rule, their books are just not that engaging for adults and I tire of them long before the kids do.  Sandra Boynton's books, however, have a charm that transcends the banal world of toddler literature.  Every time Little Man comes toddling up to me shouting "Gup!" (book) and holding out a Boynton book, I start to smile.  This is going to be one of those "love it" times.

Sandra Boynton's books are definitely targeted to the toddler set.  They are board books with goofy illustrations, and there are just a few words on each page.  The concepts are simple, and almost always told in rhyme.  Somehow, though, Boynton manages to put a great deal of humor into these simple concepts paired with just a few words.  Take my favorite, But Not the Hippopotamus for example.  Each page has a little rhyming couplet about animals having a great time together, then ends with "but not the Hippopotamus."  Poor, poor Hippopotamus.  At the end, in a triumphant couplet, the Hippopotamus decides to "come join the lot of us" and have fun.  Then, in small letters as a little afterthought, the book ends with "but not the Armadillo."  Just a little bit of an ironic laugh on the last page.  The same comes with Phil's favorite Blue Hat, Green Hat. Each page shows three animals wearing a piece of clothing (like a hat or shoes) in the appropriate manner, and then a Turkey wearing the clothing in some goofy way (socks on his hands or a hat on his feet).  Oops!  By the end, the Turkey finally gets it right and has all his clothes in the right place--only to jump fully clothed into a swimming pool.   How could you not chuckle?

Boyton has dozens of board books.  Though we don't own them all, I would not hesitate to recommend any of them based on our enjoyment of the ones that we own.  If worn out=popular for a board book, then the Boynton books would count as some of our favorites.  In order of wear, we own Moo Baa La La La (kiddobeans' favorite), But Not the Hippopotamus (currently MIA, much to my chagrin), Blue Hat, Green Hat, Horns to Toes The Going-To-Bed Book, and Opposites  We also borrowed Doggies from the library, to great success.  Beware of that one, though.  It requires Mommy to imitate the barking styles of ten different kinds of dogs!  Definitely not one to bring to the doctor's office.

Anyone else have a Boynton book, or other humorous toddler book, that you love?  Comment, and share the fun!

Stages of Racial Awareness

I am reading I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World and I'm really enjoying it.  The author, Marguerite A. Wright, is the senior clinical and research psychologist at the Center for the Vulnerable Child at Children's Hospital in California, and the book is based on her hands-on experiences with children.  It's very practical and very affirming.  I particularly like her assessment of how children process race, which is entirely different from the way adults process race.  Even children of 4 or 5, who can understand skin color and use racial terms, do not understand race in the same way adults do. 

I haven't finished the book yet, but I found some of her descriptions so edifying that I want to post them here.  I think it will help all of us approach our children about race if we remember exactly where they are at developmentally.  The following descriptions are summarized from the detailed chart in the Appendix of Wright's book.

Stage 1: Racial Innocence (Age 3 and Under)
Children are completely unaware of race and skin color.  They believe they can change their skin color and gender at will.  They cannot categorize people by race.  They are ready to embrace anyone who is nice to them, regardless of race.  They cannot understand or process racism.

Stage 2: Color Awareness (Age 3-5)
Children may be able to identify their skin color either with color words or food words (vanilla, chocolate), but still believe they can change their skin color (for example, by "painting").  They can group people by skin color, but not by race.  If children are exposed to racial bigotry, they may begin showing racial prejudices, but their predisposition is still to trust anyone who is nice to them.

Stage 3: Awakening to Social Color (Age 5-7)
Not until this age do children begin to understand that their skin color is permanent, and that it in some way relates to genetics (families tend to look similar).  Children can group people by color, but not by race.  Their reaction to race and skin color is dictated by the responses of their family and friends.

Stage 4: Racial Awareness (Age 8-10)
Children understand not only their color, but also their ethnic group and are able to use and understand terms like "African American", "Black", "Caucasian", and "Asian" in reference to their own and other races/ethnicities.  Children can use many physical and social cues to group people by race.  At this point, children can understand racial prejudice and racism and should be taught sensitivity to other races/ethnicities.

Isn't it amazing that children can't really even understand racism until age 8!  Having this information will impact how I will address race with Little Miss.  Right now, it is very important that she meet many different kinds of people and see many different types of images in books and toys, but it is most important that we not scar her with descriptions of race and racism that she cannot possibly comprehend.  This may serve to create prejudices in her immature little mind, rather than erasing them, as we would hope.  Also, it reminds me that for years to come, Little Miss and Little Man may speak of race in ways that could be termed "racist" (for example, if Little Man announces he wants to be Black, or Little Miss wants to be White), but because of their age, they cannot possibly understand these to be racially charged statements.  They simply don't understand race in that way.  It will be so interesting to see how these two little guys begin to process race together as they progress through the stages of racial awareness.

I'll present a more complete summary of I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World after I have finished the book, but even at this point, I have no trouble recommending it.  Below is a "Buy Now" ad from Amazon and I want to state again that the racial awareness stages above are direct summaries from Wright's book.  Please consider the "Buy Now" as not only a recommendation, but also a citation of the source.

AllRecipes.Com

I have a friend who, whenever we would exchange recipes or food, would always ask, "Have you tried allrecipes.com yet?"  I had tried other recipe sites, foodtv.com and cambellskitchen.com were my favorites, so I always thought to myself, "Thanks for asking (again) but I'm covered on the recipe front."  Then one day I wanted to make baked potato soup, just like I love in a local restaurant.  My friend's tip came to mind.  I went to allrecipes.com, typed in the soup, and came up with ten different recipes, each one rated and reviewed and usually with a photo attached.  I was immediately hooked.  I created my online recipe box, and started searching.

I am not a super-dooper homemaker (or as we would say in my family, I'm not the "Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow".  My Mom won that particular dubious distinction when she was in high school in 1968.  Although not a "home ec." student, she took the "Betty Crocker" test just to get out of class--and got the highest score.  So along with valedictorian and newspaper editor, she was also the "Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow."  It was announced at her graduation.  I think she's still embarrassed.).  I don't cook in high heels and pearls, and I don't collect recipes.  I cook because its cheaper than going out to eat, though I suppose I do take a certain amount of pride in putting a complete meal on dinner table every night.  So I'm not really one to read through cookbooks looking for new recipes and techniques.  Surfing through an almost unlimited database to find out how to cook almost anything I've ever wanted, however?  That's kind of fun.  What should I do with polish keilbasa tonight?  Type in "keilbasa" and you get back 49 hits (I just checked) from the mundane to the ridiculous.  I succumbed to creativity and once made a crock-pot dish with keilbasa, sour kraut, and noodles.  Another time I made sweet potato soup.  Ok, so these weren't the biggest hits on the taste-o-meter, but it was fun to try something new and quirky for once.

The internet has freed me from cookbooks and recipe cards and magazine clippings.  I just depend on allrecipes.com.  They have ALL recipes--what else do I need?  I know this isn't the funniest story or the most helpful parenting hint or the philosophical take I racism that I sometimes put forth.  But, just for now, you'll have to settle for that slightly-nagging-friend part of me.  Have you tried allrecipes.com yet?

Review: Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon

Lots of times, I go for the old-fashioned kids' toys.  I'm not fond of the latest trends with over-stimulating lights and sounds that purport to make geniuses out of toddlers.  Sometimes, however, innovation can be a really great thing for everyone involved, and the latest innovation in wagon design is one of those times.  Move over heavy, rusted, metal wagon and make room for the Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon!

The red, plastic Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon sports a seat with a backrest at either end, and each seat has a seatbelt and two cupholders.  Kids today sure are spoiled!  Well, that's what I though at first, anyway.  Then I realized that full seats and cupholders mean that kids can't escape from the wagon without being released by their parents, and that they have some place to put their cups instead of dropping them over the side, and that whiny kids tired out from a long day at the zoo will agree to sit almost anywhere as long as their cupholders hold an adequate number of Goldfish Crackers.  This is a win-win situation.  Maybe it's the parents who are spoiled!

The kiddobeans love to ride in the wagon.  It's sturdy enough to be outside with the yard toys regardless of weather, so part of our playing-outside routine involves the kids hurtling themselves into the wagon (over the high sides), attempting to buckle themselves in, and urging Mommy to take them for "just a little ride."  For long day trips, like the Zoo or the Fourth of July parade, we find the kids are much more willing to spend time in the wagon than they would be to sit in the stroller.  Somehow, the wagon allows them to be more interactive, both with each other and with the stuff going on around them.  Although unwieldy, the plastic wagon is not too heavy and does fit in the moderately-sized trunk of our PT Cruiser.

This is primarily a wagon built for two, but the seat backs do fold down to create a solid platform to hold 3-4 kids, depending on the desired level of squishiness.  On short rides, the kids are often joined by their almost-two-year-old BFF, the little girl next door.  Really, though, the folded down seats are not strong enough (or comfortable enough) to make this an option for older kids or longer trips.  With two kids in the upright seats, there is no room for any type of diaper bag or cooler down by their feet.  I'm able to sling a diaper bag over the seat back, but that is basically the only luggage option.  We've also found that the wheels  could bend out of shape if the wagon is pulled over rough ground for any length of time.

Still, the Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon is a great asset for us.  We have had it for almost two years, and find that it is both a transportation device for long trips and a play toy for daily adventures.  Even our little kiddobeans try to pull each other around in it, and it is a staple when BFF's older brothers' (ages 11, 10, 9, and 8) come by with her.  All of the kids play together as the older boys race around and around the house pulling the laughing toddlers in the wagon.  As afore mentioned, we usually opt for the wagon over the stroller for zoos, parades, parks, and disc golfing because the kids are much more willing to sit in a stationary wagon than they would be in a stroller.  They love it, we love it, and I feel no nostalgia for the clunky metal wagons of my childhood.  In this case, the re-design is for me.

Review: "Shades of Black"

I happened upon Shades Of Black at the library, and it was such a favorite with Little Miss that we gave her a brand new copy for her 2nd birthday.  When we went to the library, this was always the first book she wanted to find.  She would run across the library shouting out the book's recurring refrain "I am Black.  I am unique." over and over until we found the book on the shelf.  People must have thought she had an enormous amount of self-esteem.

Kids like to look at pictures of other kids, and Shades Of Black is all about pictures of African American kids.  The book is in three sections describing three aspects of personal appearance: skin color, hair texture, and eye color.  The three sections are separated by Little Miss' favorite refrain "I am Black, I am unique" in big block letters.   Then follow a whole series of photos showing African American kids with various traits.  Some have light skin, some have dark skin, some have yellowish or orangish or purplish skin.  Each of the skin colors is compared to a food: chocolate, vanilla ice cream, licorice, popcorn, peaches.  Some have straight hair, some have kinky hair, some have braided hair.  Each of the hair textures is compared to natural objects: blades of grass, wool, cotton, rope.  Some have blue eyes, some have brown eyes, some have green eyes, some have black eyes.   Each of the eye colors is compared to a mineral: tiger's eye, lapis, onyx, unakite.  The illustrations show big color photos of different African American kids in portraits or interacting in groups. 

Shades Of Black is a board book, which is great because the kids love to look at the illustrating photos when I'm not reading the text.  Even on their own, I know they can't destroy the book.  The book is colorful and engaging, and also affirming of the beauty in all different kinds of people.  It is also a little bit ethno-centric.  The subtitle is "A Celebration of Our Children."  "Our" children?  Isn't that a bit exclusionary?  It is certainly a celebration of African American children, but surely African Americans are not the only ones encouraged to read this book.  In keeping with the poetically phrased metaphors used to describe the children's physical features, the book ends with the lyrical phrase, "I am Black.  I am unique.  I come from ancient kings and queens.  When you look at me what do you see?  I am Black.  I am proud to be me!"  There's nothing really wrong with this statement, and I want Little MIss to be proud of her heritage, but it does seem a little bit over the top.  Little Man loves this book as well, and I think someday he's going to be crushed when he realizes that, though unique, he is not Black.

Still, my slight misgivings about the tone of the book are not enough to outweigh the fact that the kiddobeans love it, and it does present a positive message to Little Miss about her African American heritage.  Hopefully, books like Shades Of Black are laying a framework for us to discuss our racial differences (and similarities) as Little Miss gets older.

Review: "The Skin You Live In"

This enjoyable children's book was one of the most thoughtful gifts that I received when Little Man was born.  Inclusive of every skin color and every race, romping around with silly analogies and tongue-twister rhymes, this book is a fun and affirming introduction to race for my multiracial toddlers.

Unlike so many books about skin color, The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler and illustrated by David Lee Csicsko, does not focus on a single ethnic group.  As I have chronicled in my article "Pink and White is Out of Sight", I fully expect that Little Man will be crushed one day when he realizes that some of his favorite books are not about him; they focus exclusively on Little Miss' African American heritage.  Not so with this family favorite.  The premise is easily divided into three themes: 1) We all have skin, and our skin is wonderful  2) Our skin is many different colors, and each one is fun in its own way  3) Our skin does not dictate who we are, it just holds all of the "us" inside.  These are good, serious points, but are couched in a verbal Dr. Seussian dance on each page that makes this book as fun for me to read as it is for the kiddobeans to hear.

For example, skin colors in this book are all linked to foods.  This is a fairly traditional approach, and one I have seen in other venues as well.  But, check out the language Michael Tyler uses in his descriptions: "Your coffee and cream skin, your warm cocoa dream skin...Your chocolate chip, double dip sundae supreme skin!  Your marshmallow treat skin, your spun sugar sweet skin...your cherry topped, candy dropped, frosting complete skin."  Etc, etc, etc.  No one is left out of this delightful dessert fest.  The silly style and engaging approach continue through David Lee Csicsko's illustrations of cartoon kids with football shaped heads interacting with each other and their over-the-top environment.  Everyone looks vaguely like someone in this book, whether you are African American, Asian, Latino, Caucasian, or Biracial.  In a preliminary effort to introduce skin color to the kiddobeans on my terms, before they hear a bluntly phrased question on the playground, I point to the different illustrations and encourage them to think of people who "look a little bit like that", whether its their friends, or themselves, or me.  FYI, they really don't get it yet, but I feel better just putting the issue out there as something that is in no way taboo.  I hope that when they do start to understand, I they'll feel comfortable talking about it.

This is a book about skin color.  It is not a book about ethnicity or heritage.  It is not about traditions or country of origin.  It is not about adoption.  It is not about overcoming obstacles and learning respect for the struggles of your ancestors.  It's a book about skin color, and, in a gentle and age-appropriate way, it is about avoiding judgements based on people's skin color.  As the book says at the end, "And like flowers in the fields that make wonderful views, when we stand side-by-side in our wonderful hues...We all make a beauty so wonderfully true.  We are special and different and just the same, too!"  Yeah for our skin, the "wonderful skin" we live in!

Review: Jeep Wrangler Twin Sport All-Weather Stroller

For the last 18 months, my double stroller has been my lifeline.  Little Miss didn't walk until she was 16 months old.  That means for over seven months (since Little Man is not quite nine months younger), any time I wanted to go anywhere I either carried both kids, made two trips, or used my double stroller.  Every single time.  It's no wonder I have a bad back!  Little Man started walking at 15 months.  So until three months ago, I either carried one and guided one by hand, carried one and pushed a stroller, or used my double stroller.  Factor in that Little Man is an explorer and shy Little Miss often insists on being carried, and I still need to rely on my faithful double on a regular basis.

To start out, when I needed to have a front-and-back stroller to accommodate the infant car seat, I used a Graco that I believe was the Graco DuoGlider LX Stroller, although I'm not quite sure on the model because I got it used. It was easy to fold and unfold, but it was like steering a boat from a rudder in the back, it was hard for me (post C-section) to get it in and out of the car, and it was very heavy to push.  In fact, I got it free from a friend because it was too heavy for her with her three year old in the front.  I think they have updated the strollers a little bit since the one I used was made, and they might be lighter now.  I would recommend trying them out in a store before purchase.  After pushing "the boat" around for four months, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a side-by-side double umbrella stroller.  The lighter the better.

The only true umbrella stroller I could find either in stores or online was the Jeep Wrangler Twin Sport All-Weather Stroller.  It is one of the cheapest--less than $100--also one of the lightest--I think its about 15 pounds--so, of course that's what I bought.  A lot of other side-by-side strollers fold down into a big rectangle.  The seats themselves don't compress like they would in a single umbrella strollers.  These tend to be more expensive, about $130-$300, but they do give you a lot more options.  They have a rack underneath, they have sunshades, and maybe even a tray in front.  But, as I said, I didn't buy one of those. If you have one, please send a comment to let everyone know how it's working for you.

My Jeep Wrangler is great for what it does.  It's nothing fancy--no bottom rack, no tray, and small sunshades that clip on and off.  It folds up completely if you flip two levers, one under each seat, with your foot. It has a three-point harness.   I really like that the seats can clip up into a full sit or down into a semi-reclined position.  Four months is pretty young to be in an umbrella stroller, but Little Man did fine because he was more supported in the "down" position.  It does have a small saddlebag on each side of the stroller and a removable cupholder for my drink.  For small outings, I stick a couple of diapers, two sippy cups, and their sun hats in the saddlebags, and we're good to go.  For longer trips, I bought two plastic hooks that clip on to the handles of the stroller and can hold the diaper bag.  Also, just a nice perk, the handles of the stroller are taller than the average umbrella stroller, so I don't have to stoop.

I've had many people ask if it is hard to get through doors.  Actually, the stroller is the same width as a wheelchair, so by law it has to be able to make it through doors, hallways, aisles, etc.  It's a tight fit sometimes, but I almost always make it.  And when I don't make it, I have fun feeling righteously indignant that this place is not ADA accessable. 

The kids love to be side-by-side, sometimes even holding hands or sharing food, but they do pick on each other a little bit if they get bored.  I'm not sure how it would go if the age difference were larger, so this is probably best with 2-in12s (2 kids in less than 12 months) or twins. The seats each support 35-40 pounds, so again sibs with a big age difference would not be able to use it for very long. I had a big problem with the stroller this winter when we had a series of days hovering around 0 degrees.  The stroller lives in my car because I use it so often, and the metal couldn't handle the cold.  The hinges wouldn't open fully to allow me to open the stroller.  They bent out of shape when I tried to force them (FYI this was a panic moment for me, because as already stated without the stroller I basically couldn't get out of the house at all). Phil was able to bend the the hinges back and I have continued to use the stroller without incident.  The stroller did get left out in a thunderstorm recently, and it survived great.  In general, though, the so-called "All-Weather Jeep" is not a hardy off-road type vehicle.  It's hard to push it even over grass for any length of time.  Still, I love this stroller and I really depend on it.  I don't hesitate to recommend it if you're looking for a basic model.