One Sweet Ride in Berlin
The end of 2009 marked the end of an era in our neighborhood. Suddenly all the little kids who used to run behind/in front of/beneath/behind their mothers again and again suddenly disappeared. So did the strollers those kids were supposed to be riding in. I actually really love seeing little kids in strollers when it’s cold out here. They have these little sleeping bags that buckle into the strollers. Mothers slip their children inside and let the rest of us smile and coo at their cute little bugs snug in their rugs.
But like I said, that’s all gone.
In its place are little snowsuit bundled children and the coolest wooden runner sleds you could ever imagine.

Now parents are taking their kids everywhere via sled. Church, grocery store, school… you name it. If you’re under six, you’ve got the hottest ride in town. Cars stop at the intersection as parades of parents walk by, pulling wooden sleds behind them. (You can see the sleeping bag “worm” in the stroller above – one of the last strollers I’ve seen because baby was sleeping.)
And if any of those parents has a lot of little kids, well he finds a way.

What do you say? Want a ride? Or maybe give a ride?








January 5th, 2010 at 11:38 am
How fun! And what great exercise for the one pulling the sleds!
January 5th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Adorable…!
Poor parents…
Lucky german kids…!
January 5th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Super fun! I loved those little stroller sleeping bags when we were in Italy, they’re so genius!
January 5th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
that’s way too cool…
January 5th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
When I was a child, I always was pulled around like that in winter by my parents, even when I was old enough to walk. Where we live now, there was almost never enough snow for me to put my children on a sled.
January 6th, 2010 at 7:03 am
The funny thing is – the kids gladly hop onto those sleds and obey their moms. The sense of freedom over a stroller, I guess!
Katie
January 7th, 2010 at 7:30 am
I love the design of the wooden sleds. So much cooler than the plastic ones here in America.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Being a Norwegian in the USA I find myself thought of as funny, strange and somewhat crazy. My six month old daughter takes all her naps outside in the stroller packed into her little sleeping bag. Snug as a bug in a rug and toasty warm when she wakes up no matter how cold it has been. People forget to stop at crosswalks when I am out walking because they seem to busy staring at me. I though people in Seattle was more used to this than others but I guess I was wrong.
Back home in the northern part of Norway I too would use a sled to get my oldest to and from daycare or the grocery store. It is a lot easier than trying to either push a stroller or try to get the kid to walk. And if there are hills I to got to ride down with her. My do I miss those times.
March 1st, 2011 at 12:28 pm
What about babywearing, and the great woven wraps from those areas?