When strollers just won't work and child must be carried

Last weekend, my family got invited aboard the USS Truman, a Naval ship which had just returned from a long deployment. This was no cruise ship. The aisles were narrow and the stairways steep and precarious. My eight year old had quite a time getting around so imagine a four year old trying to keep up. Any parent, in a situation like this, would wind up carrying their little one.

That photo is of my four year old on my back, which was by far the safest place for her! There were no other children that age aboard! Probably it was quick to see that it was impossible to get around carrying a little one and a stroller would have been completely impossible as there were knee knockers in every doorway (you had to step quite high to get through the doorways.)

I got a lovely workout that day! And my little one got to feel safe; again, this was no cruise ship. It is, um, not exactly, well, pretty. Let's leave it at that.