Would a dad with a 1 year old be out of place in the colony's Sunday stroller walk?

maple_fern_847027 Oct 2026

There's a group of mothers in our colony in Sanathnagar who walk the park with their babies every Sunday morning. Four or five strollers, slow pace, a lot of stopping to look at dogs. The babies look about my son's age. He turned 1 a few weeks ago. Weekdays he is with his caregiver and I'm at work, and Sundays are just the two of us. I don't want to sign him up for another class. That walk is exactly the kind of easy company I'd like him to have, and if I'm truthful, I'd like some too. But I've never spoken to any of them beyond a nod, and I haven't seen another man with a stroller there. Is it odd to ask to join? If you were one of them, how would you want to be asked?

2 comments

violet_trail_407227 Oct 2026
Not odd at all. When my son was that age, one father used to come to our park group in Begumpet with his daughter every week, and after the second Sunday nobody thought twice about it. He never made a speech about joining. He just walked alongside and talked about the babies, and that was enough.
lagoon_violin_701528 Oct 2026
I'd speak to one of them on a weekday first rather than walking up to the whole group on Sunday. Five people together can feel like a panel you're applying to, while one person saying 'come along' makes it easy for everyone. When my daughter was small, the people who joined our walks that way kept coming. The ones who were first added to a chat group mostly never turned up.
- maple_fern_847028 Oct 2026
  That's probably the better way in. There's one mother I see at the vegetable cart near our gate most mornings, and her son looks a couple of months older than mine. I'll try her. Writing this at 3 am with him finally asleep on my shoulder, so the teeth are clearly winning tonight.
- maple_fern_847029 Oct 2026
  Update, in case anyone was curious: I asked her this morning at the cart. They start at seven, go twice round the park and then sit near the gate for a while. She said one of the other mothers' husbands used to come too, before his office timings changed. So I won't even be the first. Sunday it is.
- teal_kettle_167629 Oct 2026
  Replying to @maple_fern_8470
  Lovely, all the best for Sunday :) Carry an extra snack dabba. At that age every baby wants what the other baby is eating, and whoever has the spare box becomes very popular very fast.
- mellow_drum_307730 Oct 2026
  Replying to @maple_fern_8470
  Ha, good for you. Around 2008 I was the only father in my daughter's park lot in Chandanagar. First month they were polite, second month they were handing me their babies while they tied their shoelaces. You'll be fine. And take the snack advice seriously, it's not a joke.