Welcome to the Best Buggy Blog

For many many years, I kept detailed journals of my life. Sadly, these were the one hobby which I had to let go, as Best Buggy got more busy.

However, Best Buggy, serves as a excellent record of the lives of our children and our family, during those missing years. Each photo holds memories for me of places we visited, the homes we had, the wonderful people we have met and the wonderful things we have done. The time has come where I would like to pick up my writing again.

Introductions

Mr BB, is one of the most kind, patient, helpful and lovely men you will ever meet. He is an amazing husband and father, although he will admit to being well trained (2 C-Sections had a big part to play!)
Without Mr BB, there would be no Best Buggy. He is an absolutely awesome computer programmer who built Best Buggy for us, with the help of a designer friend.

My background is working with children in the early years. I have a long list of qualifications including two degrees. I spent much of my life looking after other people’s children as a nanny. I absolutely loved it! I lived and visited lots of amazing places. I worked for some great families. I helped to bring up some gorgeous children, who are now slowly turning into fabulous young people.

Miss BB is currently 5 years 5 months old (and she can not wait to be 5 and a half!).
Master BB is 3 years 8 months old.
Both children adore each other, and are great friends. They are the centre of my universe.

Master BB was diagnosed at birth with Down’s Syndrome. It was totally unexpected, and we were presented with a fait accompli….a gorgeous, beautiful baby boy, who just happened to have Down’s Syndrome. Although the diagnosis was a massive shock, Master BB is a blessing in disguise. He will be the last child I ever look after, and I am absolutely loving that he is growing up at a slower pace to Miss BB – who just flew through every stage. I am savouring every minute. I am enjoying every small step of progress because they are so much sweeter; and I am loving the extra hugs and cuddles on the way.

Miss BB meanwhile is exceedingly bright for her age. She taught herself to read and write using the iPad when I was busy with Master BB, and is a fairly fluent reader with great maths skills. Miss BB never ever ever stops talking! She asks questions all day every day!
Last year, on her 4 and a half year birthday,  Miss BB was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes Mellitus. This was a massive shock to the household and left us reeling. It has been a tough year getting our heads first around injections, and later, around an insulin pump. Last week, Miss BB was also diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. She is  an incredibly brave child and we are incredibly proud of her great attitude to her conditions and also looking after her brother.

The children, with their various needs, and endless appointments and meetings, always come first.

Best Buggy

Best Buggy stemmed out of an online pushchair group. The admins at the time, were exceedingly organised, and held detailed information about each pushchair. However one day, a lot of information got deleted. We realised that there was a need for something more permanent. We saw a need for information to be all in one place, so that measurements could be easily looked up, along with the features of each pushchair.
We frequently got asked which pushchair someone should buy? Or which pushchair was better? But we also found ourselves defending a particular pushchair when someone posted that a particular seat was tiny, or another pushchair was really long; when we knew these were not true. Thus measurements, the ability to compare two pushchairs side by side, and photos became core to what we wanted to do. It is hard to argue with measurements or with photos of the same child in two different pushchairs, taken on the same day.

Best Buggy is a work in progress. We started with out interest in trying to find a perfect double pushchair, and in recent years, single pushchairs have been added onto the website.

So why the Best Buggy Blog?

This week is World Down’s Syndrome Awareness week. Whilst, I am no campaigner, I feel like I would like to do my part to raise awareness of Down’s Syndrome and hopefully do my bit to change some perceptions and hopefully make things a little easier for my son as he grows up. Thankfully we have been surrounded by very positive people, family, neighbours and friends since Master BB was born, but we know others are not so fortunate.

Meanwhile, Miss BB who is a Type 1 Diabetic, seems to have a harder time than her brother. Type 1 diabetes seems to be misunderstood by nearly everyone we meet. Again, I hope I can raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, and help her, and other Type 1 diabetics, to have their condition understood better.

We will first start with first talking about Down’s Syndrome. We leave then for the Harrogate Nursery Fair, from where we hope to bring lots of news and photos.
Let’s see where this Best Buggy Blog adventure takes us!