Often when I go out with Adrian – to the supermarket, on other small errands, to our Estonian playgroup, home from nursery in the afternoon – I take him on my back in a baby carrier, instead of a stroller.

Quite frequently someone comments on “how strong of you” or “I could never do that” (in Swedish it’s often “att du orkar”). They seem to think it requires a sacrifice from me, that I do this out of some feeling of duty.

But to me this is the easy way out. Pushing a 10 kg stroller up hilly streets filled with sand/snow mush? Getting up and down staircases, queueing for elevators? Squeezing into crowded buses and trains, navigating narrow aisles in shops? Not if I can avoid it.

The fact that it’s cosy having him on my back, resting his head against my back, pointing at the things we pass, is just an extra plus.