what’s working :: our walking rope

Like every other parent I know, I have explored nearly every mode of transit for our family.

When Lily was a baby, she was nearly always strapped onto my body in some sort of sling or pack, and when her size (or my size during my second pregnancy) made this option less comfortable, we opted for various strollers, wagons, and push-cars to get from Point A to Point B safely and happily. 

But when Quinn was born a few weeks shy of Lily’s second birthday, new challenges arose. I was not physically able to wear both of my children (I know people do it but it didn’t work for me) and Lily, a curious toddler, no longer wanted to be strapped into a stroller.  So I often found myself wearing Quinn or pushing him in a stroller with Lily walking alongside me.

During one of my first outings as a mother of two, Lily, who had been holding the stroller as we walked, darted away from me and towards the street. I was able to catch her before she was hurt, but I knew I had to come up with a new plan. Later that day I went to the store and bought a little harness backpack with a long monkey tail (something I had previously referred to, while rolling my eyes, as a “kid leash”).

Lily loved her monkey pack and it served us very well for several months, giving her a little more freedom of movement as she walked alongside me, and giving me some sense of peace, knowing she could not run away from me.

By the time Quinn was a toddler, I had given away the monkey backpack (sometimes I have this weird mama-amnesia thing that makes me forget about the tricky stages my second is yet to go though once my first is through them) and we generally opted for a hand-me-down sit-and-stand double stroller and kids taking turns being the engine or the caboose.

These days we are mostly done with strollers and the only time I get to “sling” my babes is when they are sick or overtired and they request it (melts this Mama’s heart every time), but we have found a new mode of transportation that works really well for us — a walking rope!

Inspired by a field trip with Lily’s school last fall where I saw a walking rope (pictured below) in action, I decided to make one for our family.

Ours is made of rainbow yarn, which Lily and I fingerknit into a long chain and my kids like to pretend that they are powerful Belgian horses pulling a heavy load, so I walk/run along behind them holding the reins, instead of all walking in a line like the picture above.

But the point of this very long story is that it really works for us.

We bring our walking rope to the mall, museums, zoos, parks. Any place where I want to have some sense of safety and connection with them, while still giving them freedom to run and explore.

We do get more than a few confused looks when we saunter by with kids whinnying and me yealling “Woah there, Sheba. Woah there, Blackie.” But I can handle puzzled looks. I’ve got safe, happy children and I’m a more calm, happy mama and that works for me.

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For a fun and eclectic list of things that are working in other families, grab your walking rope, gallop on over to We are THAT Family and click on Works for me Wednesday.