Alana talks about her father's "No Strollers" philosophy

Hello? Hello?

Can you hear me?

Yep, I can.

Can you speak a little bit more loudly because you're a little bit quiet?

Okay. Okay. Can you hear me now?

Um, yeah, let me see if my— yeah, just maybe try to keep Keep speaking pretty clearly, okay?

Okay.

Much better, much better. Whatever you did, that fixed it. Um, well, today I thought we'd talk about, um, your father's no strollers policy. You know that your dad doesn't like— doesn't think that kids should be rolled around in strollers?

Yeah, I know that.

So do you think that's a good idea, that he's right, or do you think he should sometimes let, you know, he should have put you in strollers or Logan in strollers?

I think actually that's kind of a good idea because like kids need their exercise sometimes even when it's hard.

So you think it's a good idea that he makes you walk?

Yeah, I think.

Does Logan complain about it?

No.

So you see other kids in strollers. What do you think, that they— it's okay for them to be in strollers, or do you think they should be walking too?

Um, for me it's up to the— to their parents, but I would say maybe just like walk.

So do you think that you're going to be a no-stroller parent if you have kids?

Yeah.

So why do you think that it's so good for kids to walk rather than use strollers?

One, they need to get their exercise. Two, they have more interaction with their parents. While walking, you can talk, you can play. And with strollers, you can just like sit down and not get any exercise.

So the two big ones are more exercise and more interaction with their parents?

Yeah, and other kids.

Got it, and other kids. That makes sense too. Do you think that— you know what it means to be kind of resilient?

Like Brazilian?

Yeah.

I don't know, but maybe.

Okay, so resilient is a word that means that you keep going even when things are hard. Would you say that you keep going even when things are hard?

Yeah, I think.

You think that's true not only when you keep walking when you're tired, but also when you are at tournaments?

Yeah, I think so. Because like some of my opponents were really hard to beat.

Okay. Do you think that some kids get discouraged really easily and give up too quickly?

Maybe, but kids that I've seen, maybe not really, but some maybe.

So I'm going to talk to your, you know, sometimes I interview you and I interview your dad. So today I'm going to interview your dad after this and ask him about the no strollers thing. I think that he believes that, I think he totally agrees with you that no strollers is good for exercise and for interaction. But I think that he thinks that if you let kids go to strollers right away, that they are prone to give up in every way of part of their life. Does that make sense?

Yeah.

So, um, do you— have you ever known a kid that you think gives up too quickly?

Um, I don't think yet.

Okay, well, that's good. Maybe you know lots of kids who are also really resilient. Um, do you think— does Logan complain about the walking and no strollers, or does Logan ever try to complain, or not so much?

He only wants somebody to carry him, not strollers. He either walks or somebody carries him.

So tell me about the policy of carrying. So no strollers, that's simple. Walking, that's simple. When will your mom or dad agree to carry him?

Logan?

Yeah.

When he asks, like when he says, "Apa ini?" or something. And when he says, and when, um, Tom says.

Got it. Does— do your parents ever agree to carry you, or you're too big?

Yeah, they still carry me sometimes.

Is it just when you're really tired, or just when you feel like it, or when do they carry you?

Just when I'm really tired.

So the interesting thing for me is No strollers is so you get exercise, but then they do carry you when you're tired. What's the difference between carrying you when you're tired and letting you go in a stroller?

Because you can like be in your parent, like you can be next to your parent or like somebody that you can talk to or something.

So it goes back to the kind of interaction and also maybe the physical. It's kind of being Being carried is a little bit like being hugged, right?

Yeah.

Okay, so that makes sense, just why it's, um, why it's better than a stroller. Um, but isn't it too hard for your mom or dad to carry you guys?

For Logan, no. Well, both of my parents can, um, carry him, but sometimes they can carry me like Yeah, sometimes.

Okay, because you're kind of getting big to be carried?

Yeah.

Okay, so what would you say to a parent— suppose there's a parent out there and the parent says, "I love my stroller. I'm gonna have my kid be in strollers." Could you persuade him or her to go to a no-stroller policy?

So like I say a sentence or a couple that that I would say to a real parent?

Yep, go for it.

Well, if you want to put your kid in a stroller, at least put no electronics with them. But also what's good for no strollers is that when they walk, they get more exercise, they get interaction with you and other kids.

And I think you introduced— thank you, that was excellent. I think you introduced something new. You said if they're in a stroller, no electronics. Is that what you said?

Yeah.

So tell me about that piece of it. Why a policy of no electronics if you're in a stroller?

Because like then they would just like be like in the apps, like video games and stuff.

What's wrong with that?

So you can do a little bit of that, like me, but don't do like too much. Maybe it's just because like you don't like get much exercise, you're just like sitting down and—

How do you know how much is too much?

Like if you're playing like every single day.

So how much electronics do you play?

I only play like, I don't know, I don't have like a schedule, but like I don't do video games very much. The only time is maybe like 2 times maybe, I think.

And do you decide when you do electronics or do your parents decide when you do electronics?

Either when I'm at somebody's other house they decide or my parents decide.

I see. Do you think that on your own you would be tempted to do too much electronics, more than is good for you?

No, because I personally— so sometimes I don't like, like sometimes I don't like Specific apps, like sometimes.

But do you ever, do you ever find yourself playing an app and thinking, you know, this is too much? Can you manage to stop yourself from playing?

Yep.

How do you do that?

So I just think that I'm really doing too much, and then I just tell my parents that I don't want to do anymore.

So do you think most kids have that kind of self-control?

Sure, maybe most kids.

Okay, well good. I am glad that you have such well-developed ideas on no strollers and no electronics. What are you going to do the rest of the day?

I'm going to be here at Novel, um, just like— and we're also going to do an experiment.

What's the experiment?

So we, we bought 3 raw eggs. Me and my dad are going to try and boil them in hot water, like with something, I don't know, without like a stove. Like, I don't think there is a stove here, but like hot water, we're going to try to cook them.

Interesting. Okay. Well, let me know how it goes. I hope you have a good day, and tell your dad I'll call him in a few minutes to talk to him about nose droolers, okay?

Okay.

Bye-bye.

Bye.