advertisement
-
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
You should know something about me. I've always hated mini vans. I just have. I want to say that it's because they guzzle down gas and I'm an environmentalist. But in all honesty, they're pretty average on gas mileage. I want to say that they evoke a stereotype of momness that I don't want to be part of. I don't want to drive a van just because I'm a mom and I'm supposed to. But that's not fair, either. Mini vans are handy when you have kids.
The truth is that they are big, difficult to drive, and very uncool looking.
There, I said it. Vans aren't cool. Okay, well, VW vans are pretty cool. Especially with flowers and the words "peace" and "love" painted on the side. But mini vans? They are not hip.
When our car was totalled in the car crash I was in a month ago, my husband Mitch suggested we get a van. "No vans," I said. "No SUV's, no vans. The gas mileage is too high." And that was the end of it.
That was the end of it until we borrowed my father in law's van. It was a Dodge Caravan. It was huge! Well, okay, it wasn't any bigger than any other van. But compared to my little Aveo, it was huge. I backed it out of our driveway that we share with our neighbor, taking great care not to hit her little white car. The van and I lumbered out of the drive and onto the road, out of our residential area, and onto the main avenue.
And I towered above everyone! I could see everything ahead of me! Tailgaiters didn't bother me anymore. I could see signs clearly. Those semi trucks that are always in such a hurry didn't make me nervous at all. It wasn't difficult to drive at all! When I picked Marc up from school later that day, he just walked right into the vehicle. There was room for both him and his big backpack. He loved it!
That was it. One day changed my mind. Yesterday we got our check from the insurance company and went shopping. We picked out a lovely used Town and Country, and drove it home today. Charlotte rode home in it with us, and she giggled the entire way!
I have never thought of myself as a mini van driver. I'm more of a bus taker or bicycle rider. When I imagine myself in a car, it's always an '80's Volvo or something. I've never actually owned a Volvo, but then, we don't always get that much choice in what we drive.
It'll be hard to get used to. This car is fancy by my standards, and certainly bigger than I'm used to. But I'm glad to have it. Aveos are small and hip, but impractical for a family. Sometimes practical wins out over cool. Anyway, our new van is absolutely cool. It has a place for my sunglasses and two rows of seats in the back and an automatic starter and this thing which tells time!
My only question at this point is this: how long will it take before that new car smell is replaced with old milk and french fry smell?
Your van sounds a little fancier than mine. I have always thought it was a little strange how people could hate minivans so much. I used to drive fifteen passenger vans for work and I drive a cargo one occasionally, and the minivan is so much smaller compared to those! But seriously, my mini van allows me to go on comfortable vacations (when I can), and allows me to carpool for school functions. I like my minivan. But, when my kids are grown, I can see myself in something smaller. Sportier and hopefully a hybrid.Although I've never had a vehicle with new car smell I drove a van when the kids were home. We replaced it with a sedan when it was totaled and I've missed it ever since. Loved being able to see! We need to replace our car and I'm thinking an SUV of some sort. I'm assuming those are good for seeing out of too?Welcome. I took the plung last year after test driving every possible car/SUV/crossover that wasn't a mini van and not a gazillion dollars. Only the mini had enough room in the trunk for the double stroller when the third row seats are up. Sigh.....I do have to say I still find it to be a little big for everyday use but with kids it is wonderful! I wish I would have bought one sooner. We drive our little car for weekend errands etc to save on gas mileage. I did tried to bring a little coolness to our minivan by buying a VW minivan. Maybe I could paint a flower on the side too? :)I never could buy a van. I drove my dad's Town & Country for about 2 weeks before he sold it & it was like driving a sofa.Love this article! I owned a minivan before I had any kids! I will always have a minivan and I am proud of it:)Welcome to the mini van world. For those of us that have them, we know how great they are. When we bought our mini van 9+ years ago my husband told me I was now a soccer mom. Dale hated soccer. I told him not to refer to me that way again. I hated to be stereotyped. It was great when Dale was in grade school and I could haul all his friends to school events. I also love that I can do all my weekly errands at once and never run out of room. When I used to be able to travel it was great on long trips. Oh yeah, it is great for hauling all kinds of stuff. A few weeks ago I had 42 landscaping bricks in the bag of it for a project, and right now it has 3 big bags of bark mulch to finish the job. It has been great. Now that Dale is older and I don't haul around other kids anymore and there is never more than the 4 of us in it, I probably won't get a minivan when I need to replace it. However my husband has a sedan and it is a little small and two low to the ground for me. I will probably go back to another SUV.I am not a van person; however, I am more than happy to take a ride in someone else's van :) I don't like to have to park it and I also get paranoid about hitting a kid who darts behind it.We downsized our mini van for a Rav-4. I don't have to worry about car seats now, which is a huge help. I miss the room to dump things. I miss the space between adults and kids (mine get pretty loud.) I miss the ease of traveling long distance in the van. But I don't miss the bulkiness. Battlefieldmomma said it right--"like driving a sofa." Very comforable to be in, but awkward to move around.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmotherhood (12)
school (10)
family (9)
parenting (7)
growing up (6)
fibromyalgia (5)
birthday (4)
bullies (4)
kids (4)
toddlers (4)
anxiety (3)
divorce (3)
normal (3)
stress (3)
video games (3)
accident (2)
awesome (2)
baseball (2)
brother (2)
children (2)
christmas (2)
chronic illness (2)
death (2)
er (2)
hair (2)
holidays (2)
life (2)
love (2)
money (2)
news (2)
nintendo (2)
obama (2)
presents (2)
recycling (2)
religion (2)
siblings (2)
sick (2)
son (2)
taxes (2)
tradition (2)
unemployment (2)
valentine (2)
writing (2)
9/11 (1)
acting (1)
adrenal insufficiency (1)
adult (1)
advice (1)
afentra (1)
affirmation (1)
alone (1)
american (1)
animal control (1)
animal rights (1)
april fools (1)
attacks (1)
aunt (1)
babies (1)
babysitting (1)
backyard (1)
bad day (1)
bedtime (1)
bin laden (1)
bionicle (1)
birth (1)
body (1)
bonding (1)
brothers (1)
busy mom (1)
calm (1)
car (1)
car theft (1)
car trouble (1)
carnival (1)
casey anthony (1)
caterpillars (1)
cel phone (1)
celebration (1)
celebrities (1)
changes (1)
charity (1)
chicken (1)
classroom (1)
cleanliness (1)
clothes (1)
clothing (1)
clutter (1)
co parenting (1)
co sleeping (1)
comicon (1)
community (1)
competition (1)
confession (1)
dad (1)
dating (1)
daughter (1)
dead animal (1)
deals (1)
debate (1)
debt (1)
decisions (1)
decorations (1)
depression (1)
diapers (1)
dinner (1)
disconnect (1)
diverticulitis (1)
doctor (1)
doctor who (1)
doctors (1)
dollhouse (1)
drama (1)
ds (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
election (1)
employment (1)
espresso (1)
facebook (1)
families (1)
family bed (1)
fantasy (1)
faq (1)
fat (1)
fears (1)
feminism (1)
fever (1)
fifth grade (1)
filing (1)
finances (1)
first (1)
friend (1)
fun (1)
gay (1)
gay marriage (1)
geek (1)
global (1)
goals (1)
god (1)
good moms (1)
goodbye (1)
grades (1)
graffiti (1)
gratitude (1)
groceries (1)
grown-up (1)
guns (1)
haircut (1)
halloween (1)
handmade (1)
happiness (1)
happy thoughts (1)
hard times (1)
hate (1)
high school (1)
hip (1)
holiday (1)
home (1)
home alone (1)
honesty (1)
hunger (1)
hurricane (1)
internet (1)
interviews (1)
jobs (1)
joke (1)
joplin (1)
judgement (1)
karma (1)
kcmo (1)
lake (1)
lawyers (1)
lgbtq (1)
liberal (1)
libya (1)
louisburg (1)
mini van (1)
miniature (1)
minimalism (1)
moderation (1)
momless (1)
montessori (1)
motehrhood (1)
museum (1)
nag (1)
nanowrimo (1)
neighbors (1)
new car (1)
new year (1)
new york (1)
newtown (1)
nothing (1)
novel (1)
obsession (1)
occupy wall street (1)
occupykc (1)
ogres (1)
older (1)
organizing (1)
ozarks (1)
paintball (1)
paranoia (1)
parking lot (1)
pasta (1)
peaceful (1)
pee (1)
pencils (1)
permission (1)
perspective (1)
persuasive (1)
politics (1)
positivity (1)
potty training (1)
poverty (1)
practical (1)
prayer (1)
president (1)
principles (1)
prison (1)
puberty (1)
public (1)
pumpkin patch (1)
questions (1)
raccoon (1)
radio (1)
rage (1)
rainbow (1)
real life (1)
recipe (1)
remembering (1)
renaissance festival (1)
resolutions (1)
restaurants (1)
roller coaster (1)
romney (1)
router (1)
royals (1)
sadness (1)
sahm (1)
salesmen (1)
sandwich (1)
sandy (1)
sauce (1)
self esteem (1)
serotonin (1)
sharing (1)
shooting (1)
shopping (1)
single (1)
sister (1)
sleep (1)
slumber party (1)
spaghetti (1)
sports (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
spying (1)
star trek (1)
star wars (1)
state fair (1)
storm (1)
style (1)
super mom (1)
superheroes (1)
tantrums (1)
teachers (1)
teaching (1)
teasing (1)
temperance (1)
ten (1)
texting (1)
thanksgiving (1)
threats (1)
three (1)
tiger mom (1)
time (1)
tired (1)
toddler (1)
tornado (1)
trash (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
vacuum cleaner (1)
video (1)
violin (1)
visit (1)
voting (1)
war (1)
warming (1)
wifi (1)
wohm (1)
women (1)
wow (1)
zelda (1)
zen (1)