LarkTales: Real Larktale Stroller Stories from Real Parents

LA Parents Brad and Mikyla Race share how their Larktale stroller helps them stay busy and active with their baby
Written by Mia Weber

In a new on-going column, we are catching up with real parents all over the country about how they use their Larktale strollers for fun, family time, and all of life’s on-the-go moments. For our first installment, we caught with LA-based Brad and Mikyla Race.

Brad and Mikyla have a 10-month-old son, as well as a sweet fur-baby, Willow (who absolutely loves getting to know her baby bro). Mikyla manages The Spa at Equinox, while Brad is the executive chef at Catch. As busy working parents, they’re all about sharing caretaking duties with their little one, spending family time outdoors when they have free time, and traveling as a family. We caught up with them about the ups and downs of new parenthood in LA, what they love about their ChitChat, and their tips for other working moms and dads.

As working parents, what is your schedule like? 
"We both work full-time so we try and split the day. Dad stays home for the mornings until 12pm. We have a nanny come over with her own young child during the day a few days a week, and mom is home in time for dinner by 5-6pm."

What’s it like raising a family in LA? 
"We moved here from the east coast about four years ago. We love being close to the beach and mountains and there is always stuff to do outdoors. The best thing is the weather, it’s always a beautiful day and it makes it easy to get out of the house."

What are your favorite family activities to do all together? 
"On our days off we will usually take the dog to the park and play around on the swings. If it’s warm and we’re up for an adventure we will take him down to the beach. Rylen isn’t walking yet so we haven’t gotten to do any hikes yet but I’m sure we will soon."

When you were first expecting, what were some of your top concerns?
"Sleep! Everyone says: “You’ll never sleep again” and “Get ready for a lot of sleepless nights,” which was really discouraging and put a lot of unnecessary fear into our minds."
"A Village! You always hear: “It takes a village,” and it totally does! We don’t have much family out here so we were really worried about having that community feeling. But you just end up meeting people with kids who want to help and we have built our own new community."

What are some of your go-to parenting resources?
"Thank god for Taking Cara Babies! [We have relatives and friends who] did the Baby Wise Method, and recommended The Happiest Baby on the Block. We read all the books about scheduling and sleep training but no one talked about how to do it. We found Cara through Instagram and bought her online course and Rylen was sleeping through the night by 3 months old. She taught us that sleepless nights are not a rite of passage to parenthood and your baby can be happy and healthy with proper sleep."

Did you get any funny or strange unsolicited advice when you were expecting?
Mikyla: "Ugh, yes! Because I was working throughout the last few weeks of my pregnancy people started talking to me more and more about the birth and asking what my birth plan was. I also got a lot of opinions on vaccines. These are all very sensitive subjects but I learned to just nod and smile and say: “Well, ya know…”"

What have some of the biggest surprises about parenthood been?
"Someone is going to hate me for saying this, but it’s been so easy! So far, at least. We are confident and easy-going parents and I think that made Rylen feel very secure and comfortable. He knows what to expect every day and even on vacation or on the go he knows what to expect."

What were your top priorities when looking for baby gear and creating your registry?
"We didn’t want a lot of stuff, and people love to give you stuff. We also wanted a lot of dual-purpose items because we are in a small space. Our top priority was tummy time so we didn’t want baby gear like swings and bouncers."

How does Larktale fit into your life as busy parents?
"Rylen had just started sitting up when we had a vacation planned to Hawaii. We had this big clunky travel system (car seat, bassinet, and stroller) and wanted something smaller and easier to use in the airport and hotel. The Larktale Chit Chat was perfect! It folds up so compactly so it was great for packing into the car. We can hold Rylen in one arm and break it down with the other arm. The handle makes it so easy to maneuver. It’s sturdy enough that you don’t feel like it’s going to blow away like other umbrella strollers but it’s still super-lightweight. Once we got back from vacation we stopped using our other stroller and only use the Larktale for daily use. Our favorite feature is the way the straps clip. It sounds small but it’s so easy to just pop him in and out, no other stroller is made like that, it’s so smart!"

For more real-life stories of how real moms and dads are living their best lives as new parents, with their Larktale strollers in tow, stay tuned to our blog this year! And here’s hoping that the next parents we chat with are as fortunate as Brad and Mikyla when it comes to how easy and fun they’ve had it with their little one!