The People In Your Neighbourhood

Yesterday we reached yet another milestone in a month that is still only seven days old.

The 'I'm too big to be in a stroller' phase has arrived. And if the first experience is anything to go by, it's going to make everything a lot, lot slower.

Austin and I were out for a fairly routine afternoon walk; down to the Balmain shops and along Darling Street to Rozelle via the local hardware store. Then, just after that stop, pretty much our halfway point, the lad kicked off in rather spectacular fashion.

Not one to mince babbles, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted out.

Fair enough, sometimes you need to stretch your legs, but what happened next was a real eye opener.

The thing about kids in strollers is that they seem to be pretty much invisible. Not literally, of course, but it's generally only elderly females who acknowledge their - or your - existence.

At least when you're an at-home dad.

But with a toddler on their feet, everything changes. The elderly English lady with the dog, the little boy and his nanny, the couple who deliver junk mail, the mum and her two little girls. All of them stopped to talk.

All of sudden there are people in Austin's neighbourhood.

The flip-side is that we moved at a snail's pace. Somewhere in the region of 500 metres in 30 minutes - and that included a few spells of being carried in Dad's arms. We only managed to make it home before dark because I discovered that the plumber's tape we'd picked up at the hardware store was enough of an enticement to get Austin into his stroller.

Without that, there's a chance we'd still be out there.

That said, it was a great experience for him. The first of many I'm sure; and ones with which will come more adult interaction for me. We'll just have to allocate more time to those journeys. And take a packed lunch.