Goodbye Bugaboo
If you've been following my get-rid-of-a-thon, you'll like this one: Theft. Yeah, that's right, theft. Someone stole our Bugaboo stroller 2 nights ago. Can you imagine that? Now what kind of jackass steals someone's stroller? There I was, yesterday morning, crazy and totally sleep-deprived as usual. Had on the same dang clothes as usual (since clothes go from body to table by the wash machine and back to body the next day...sometimes they actually get a little spin in the wash machine for a change, but they certainly never make it from the drying rack to the closet, especially not in folded format) with a nice snot stain on the upper left corner near my shoulder where my little pride and joy's sweet little face rests. I am carrying bags, birthday presents, helmets, sticks, whatever, and its like 8:30 or something. I walk downstairs and the stroller is gone. GONE.
When something has been stolen like that, there is this whole psychological drama that gets played out. Of course there is the phantom idea...that it is still around - somewhere - and will return somehow (i.e., drop from the sky or the Big Ass Thief decides he/she can't take the guilt and returns it). Then there is the violation thing. Someone took my property...there were things under it in the little basket. Did the Big Ass Thief look through it and find any personal items, conjure up an image of his/her victim, or feel any sense of remorse? Then there's the sense-of-safety-and-security-suddenly-getting-called-into-question thing. My husband went out last night (bowling) and I was all whacked out in the apartment. Scared. Heebeejeebees. I thought that the Big Ass Thief must be hiding behind the curtains or under the bed or something and was just waiting to make his/her next move. I hid valuable items in strange places. And then there is the suspect issue. Now, suddenly, everyone that lives in this house is a suspect. I look at them all a little differently now, searching for something in their eyes, smiles, gestures that might suggest that the Big Ass Thief is actually closer than we think.
And then there's the more practical issue. Someone took my fucking stroller! That means that I have to figure out another way to haul all these dang kids from Point A to Point B. No easy task, I tell you. This morning, I put little darling on the bike seat, all bundled and helmetted. And big darling got on her own bike, also all bundled and helmetted. Then we drove the couple of kms to the kindergarten at about no miles per hour. Sloooooooooowwwwwwwww. OWWW! My legs hurt! My hat is covering my eyes! Ugh! My sock is slipping down in my boot! MOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!! You're going too fast! Holy flippin' hell.
And then there's the very sweet charitable side of me. This part says, oh dear...some poor soul couldn't pay rent this month, so he had to go out and find him a Bugaboo to sell on Ebay. Or...oh my, some poor couple just found out they are gonna have a little tyke, and they can't afford a stroller...so the woman sent her husband out in the middle of the night to get them a REALLY EXPENSIVE DESIGNER STROLLER. Someone must have been really desperate....
And then, there's the Mama Jens Classic...this is the side of me that feels lighter than air the moment any physical object leaves my space. This is the side of me my older one must know best, because she said, "That's great that someone took it, Mama, since we are moving and would have to get rid of it anyways." She got extra kisses for that one.
So, Bugaboo, wherever you are out there, I will miss you dearly. You drove like a cadillac. I will think about you this winter when I am clunking along on the ever-so-even Berlin sidewalks with your replacement. I hope you find a good home on Ebay. Love, Mama Jens
When something has been stolen like that, there is this whole psychological drama that gets played out. Of course there is the phantom idea...that it is still around - somewhere - and will return somehow (i.e., drop from the sky or the Big Ass Thief decides he/she can't take the guilt and returns it). Then there is the violation thing. Someone took my property...there were things under it in the little basket. Did the Big Ass Thief look through it and find any personal items, conjure up an image of his/her victim, or feel any sense of remorse? Then there's the sense-of-safety-and-security-suddenly-getting-called-into-question thing. My husband went out last night (bowling) and I was all whacked out in the apartment. Scared. Heebeejeebees. I thought that the Big Ass Thief must be hiding behind the curtains or under the bed or something and was just waiting to make his/her next move. I hid valuable items in strange places. And then there is the suspect issue. Now, suddenly, everyone that lives in this house is a suspect. I look at them all a little differently now, searching for something in their eyes, smiles, gestures that might suggest that the Big Ass Thief is actually closer than we think.
And then there's the more practical issue. Someone took my fucking stroller! That means that I have to figure out another way to haul all these dang kids from Point A to Point B. No easy task, I tell you. This morning, I put little darling on the bike seat, all bundled and helmetted. And big darling got on her own bike, also all bundled and helmetted. Then we drove the couple of kms to the kindergarten at about no miles per hour. Sloooooooooowwwwwwwww. OWWW! My legs hurt! My hat is covering my eyes! Ugh! My sock is slipping down in my boot! MOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!! You're going too fast! Holy flippin' hell.
And then there's the very sweet charitable side of me. This part says, oh dear...some poor soul couldn't pay rent this month, so he had to go out and find him a Bugaboo to sell on Ebay. Or...oh my, some poor couple just found out they are gonna have a little tyke, and they can't afford a stroller...so the woman sent her husband out in the middle of the night to get them a REALLY EXPENSIVE DESIGNER STROLLER. Someone must have been really desperate....
And then, there's the Mama Jens Classic...this is the side of me that feels lighter than air the moment any physical object leaves my space. This is the side of me my older one must know best, because she said, "That's great that someone took it, Mama, since we are moving and would have to get rid of it anyways." She got extra kisses for that one.
So, Bugaboo, wherever you are out there, I will miss you dearly. You drove like a cadillac. I will think about you this winter when I am clunking along on the ever-so-even Berlin sidewalks with your replacement. I hope you find a good home on Ebay. Love, Mama Jens
posted by mama jens at 12:29 PM
11 Comments:
I can't believe someone did that! Maybe you need to leave some of the stuff you really ARE trying to get rid of down there and see if they take that too.
ha! good idea! that would be a great way to get rid of everything else!
Oh dear! That sux....but in a way, considering your moving to the US soon, it's also good.
Usually I attach a personal silent curse to things that got stolen from me (don't ask, I just utter them in silence)...so all thieves out there beware, you don't know what's in it for ya! *evil looks*
Christina's also right, just keep putting stuff you want to get rid of in the same place as the Bugaboo. ;)
Jen ... Good to see your writing again ... Yesterday, in what might be some cosmic balancing act relative to your loss, I was walking in Manhattan, near West 23rd and Broadway, when I came across a stroller, abandoned next to a subway entrance. It was so odd seeing it there all alone and my mind started creating scenarios for why it would be there ... Maybe yours will pop up as well, out of the ether into which it was rolled by some unknown agent...
Hi Elemm! I am glad to see you are still reading! How's Munich???
Richard: Crazy that you just saw this abandoned stroller. I'm still on the search for mine, though I guess it is gone gone gone.
And Andrew: Yeah, I wonder about those guys putting leaflets in the mailboxes too. And yeah, I can understand your distaste for the bugaboo, though you have to admit, it is one mighty fine stroller. But it was nice when there were only a couple around. Now, every third or fourth person has one and it is a little ridiculous. It takes that Berlin quarter-specific homogenous thing to another level.
Roulette Tips: Keep your roulette tips to yourself and go spam your own dang blog.
Jen - the only way to keep the spammers away is to select "word verification" in your comments settings.
random question i know, but any ideas where i can get canned pumpkin mush in a tin in time for thursday thanksgiving? am english, so am not even sure what this stuff is meant to look like. i guess i live round the corner from you so anywhere nearby? i live in hope.. and you are my only hope, oh talented cooker of all things american-sounding! that was a compliment by the way.. love the blog, makes me smile lots.
hi chenda! i have only ever seen the canned pumpkin at kadewe, but i guess it is pretty expensive. what is cheaper, tastier, and actually not too much work is to cook a small hokkaido pumpkin - those are the smallish, bright orange ones. they have them at kaisers and at most bio ladens. a small one will yield about a can's worth of pumpkin. you can also use the regular pumpkins, but of course they are usually super big. to make it much easier to cut, just boil the pumpkin first for about 10 minutes. the skin will come off really easily. cut it in half, take the seeds out, and then cut it up into pieces. boil them again, until they are really tender (they cook pretty quickly). use a masher or food processor to mash it up. happy baking!!
thank-you for that super swift reply. didn't expect you to find time during the day having been reading your blog for the last months :)
okay, but isn't the canned stuff also sweetened? my american friend suzy says pumpkin pie made with real pumpkins tastes so goddamn healthy, which i'm guessing she thinks is bad..
hi chendra.
yeah, normally i don't reply very quickly as there is always this zoo over here (i hear screaming as we speak actually), but when it comes to pumpkin pie, you know...
the canned stuff is 100% pumpkin and tastes very healthy (eek!) too if you eat it straight. the homemade version works just as well once all the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. are added when making pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread.
suzy? is she the american doing catering around here?
she certainly is. mama jens knows everything. and i thought you just hung out in playgrounds.. :)
suzy is www.fortunastable.de among many other things. i sometimes get to help her with baking when i feel like challenges such as working out what half-and-half really is. us brits, we don't know these things.
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