When it comes to strolling, let’s just say I’ve been around the block. Probably thousands of blocks, considering that I strolled Tacy to day care weekday mornings for three years, in addition to all of the city blocks that we logged on weekend trips to parks and museums and through the corridors of Riverside Square and The Mall at Short Hills. I’ve strolled through ice and snow, through pouring rain, through blazing sun. I’ve strolled over sidewalks, across fields, and through dog poop.

In nearly six years, I’ve bought

• A Graco travel system for baby #1 (don’t all new moms buy this behemoth - or something similar - and then discover that it’s not well-suited to any lifestyle?)
• A Kolcraft pseudo-umbrella stroller for baby #1 (not easily maneuverable even under the best conditions)
• A Maclaren Triumph for baby #1 (absolutely fabulous and will kept close at hand until baby #3 has grown out of it)
• A Kolcraft Snap-and-Go stroller frame for baby #2 (love at first use, but sadly I gave it away and will need to purchase another for baby #3)
• A jogging stroller at a garage sale for babies #1 and 2 (I walked home from the pool with it once, but Kyle complains that the alignment is off)
• A generic umbrella stroller for baby #2 (most often used by baby #2 to push her dolls down the driveway at warp speed, shrieking as the stroller reaches the street, over and over again - we call this game “Negligent Mother”)

And now I own a Mutsy Spider, thanks to the good people at Mutsy who offered to send one for us to check out.

I love the Spider. It’s more expensive than most strollers I’d consider buying - the Maclaren was my big splurge, but one I don’t regret - but considering how many other strollers I’ve bought, I would have been better off pooling those dollars for one of these babies.

First off, it’s light. It’s not as light as an umbrella stroller, but it’s light enough that it glides easily, even with a 25+ pound toddler squirming in her seat. It’s bulky enough that I wouldn’t try to take it on a city bus (only because I loathe the bus), but I’d fold it and carry it up and down subway steps.

Speaking of folding, once you squeeze two tabs under the seat, the Spider basically collapses with no further effort on your part, and there’s even a small carrying handle that’s exposed upon collapse. Since I’m far enough into this pregnancy that bending over is a bit of a chore, I wish I didn’t have to bend so far over to see those tabs, but I think that once I get used to where they are, I’ll be able to do it by feel.

I like the adjustable handle even though I’m not particularly tall. The Kolcraft pseudo-umbrella stroller had a handle that was too low even for me (perhaps I inadvertently bought it in a petite size?), and I know it was annoying for Kyle. Even the Maclaren doesn’t have an adjustable handle.

But I do wish that I could put individual shopping bags over the handle (like I do with the two separate handles on the Maclaren). When I took the Spider shopping, I had to carry my bags over my wrists, which gets to be painful.

Conversely, the storage net underneath the Spider is pretty small. I would have put my bags under there if they would’ve fit.

Maybe I just shouldn’t buy so much stuff.

But what I absolutely love about the Spider is how easily it maneuvers. A set of swivel front wheels not only makes this stroller steer effortlessly, but it feels more compact - and less likely to accidentally crash into the feet of the person walking in front of you. Kyle even took it out for a run because it’s lighter than our jogging stroller and it’s correctly aligned. He said it performed great.

Granted, I wouldn’t take it off-roading, and I don’t think any lightweight stroller is going to effectively handle snow and ice. But I wish I’d had this Spider back when I had to push a 25+ pound toddler uphill in the rain, using only one hand so that I could hold my own umbrella.

A rain cover can be purchased separately (highly recommended even if you don’t stroll often - you can never guess when it might come in handy, and it’s a lot easier than making a dash for it), as well as a transit bag (which might help me with my shopping spoils storage issues).

Would I recommend the Spider? Absolutely. As long as your youngest child (and you’re not expecting any more) isn’t yet two, I’d say you’ll get a good year’s worth of use out of this stroller. Considering how well made it is, I think I could have purchased it for baby #1 (once she was out of the Snap-and-Go) and would still be using it now, five years later. That’s a great return on investment. And personally, I believe some baby gear is used so often that it really ought to be considered an investment.

For more information on the Spider and other stroller models made by Mutsy, please check out their site!