The XX Factor

Today's New York Times has an article about running with a jogging stroller. And guess what? It's about ... running with a jogging stroller. When I clicked on Baby Runs With a Fast Crowd , I expected something like the usual not so subtle advice/criticism that forms the basis of most parenting writing. Something more like yesterday's " Talking on Your Cell Phone Means You Are Not Bonding With Your Baby ", or the extremely popular " Letting Your Child Walk Instead of Driving Her Everywhere Because You Have a Job or Life Is Putting Her in Danger ." (Full disclosure: I altered those article titles just a little to reflect how they triggered my personal anxieties.) I expected "How Sitting in a Jog Stroller Makes Baby Lonely and Sad," or "Why Napping in a Stroller Is Not Good for Baby Even if the Run Saves Your Health and Sanity."

Instead, I found an article about running, as an activity performed with your baby in a jogging stroller. About the techniques for doing it safely-safely for the adult runner, not the child passenger. About how marathon runners and more casual joggers benefit from training with a stroller, and how proper use of the stroller can improve your running when the stroller is absent. The kids? Mentioned only in passing. This was an article about life as a parent that was, for once, really just about life. As a parent.