Running with a jog stroller is not easy. My daughter is almost five and weighs around 40 pounds. Trying to navigate hills, street crossings, and sticks on the sidewalk while talking with her, singing with her, and listening to her say, "Faster, Mommy, Faster!"definitely reminds me that I am a mother and a runner--the two cannot be disentangled two or three miles into a jog stroller run/
Running with a jog stroller is not sexy either.
At least, that's what I assume. So what's with the catcalls, the "Hey, Baby!," the "Whoo hoo!," and the horn honking that I elicit when I'm out at 6AM or 4PM huffing and puffing with my stroller?
I know catcalls aren't actually something that equates to sexiness: dudes just *do* it; it's not like they spend much time examining the women they honk and holler at, and it's certainly not true that they're paying as much excruciating attention to what a woman looks like as, say, we do when we look in the mirror. I guess some guys just find yelling at a blur of pink and black running clothes socially acceptable.
Maybe running with the stroller makes it easier for them to identify me as a female jogger from further away? Maybe since they know I've had a baby, they think I want to, um, have their babies? I have no idea what makes me as a mother runner more of a target for this than I am when it's just me (of course, why people feel like catcalls are ok AT ALL would need to be the subject of a much longer post!).
There is one guy who always greets me with a "Good job, mom!" when we run past each other on a bridge near my house. I love that recognition, and I appreciate it that someone is taking the time to give me a verbal high five for being a mother runner.
"Hey baby, if you were my woman, I'd push that stroller for you," however, doesn't really give me the same sense that someone appreciates the work I'm doing for myself--and really, for my daughter.
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