I didn’t think I’d have to do it. With all of the SUV options out there why would I need to get a minivan and lose the few cool points I have left driving around a living room on wheels? Well, we looked at the SUVS…despite being huge mom tanks, nearly all of them had the ability for a back bench OR a trunk…you couldn’t get both at the same time. If you were using your bench maybe you would fit a soccer ball in the poor excuse for a trunk. If you wanted any space for even a stroller you would have to put your back bench down. This is a huge car, where is all the space??? In the front, for the engine, useless for anyone. And I wasn’t going to buy one of the SUVs that are the size of a bus and eat more gas then I want to eat cake on a daily basis. Also I’m a small person, I don’t need to scale half dome every time I need to get into my car.
So despite my poor, poor aching ego, we test drove the mini vans. I felt like I had mom jeans on as soon as I sat inside it, BUT it had tons of room, good technology, drove like a sedan sized car, you have the ability to use your bag bench for say a giant 90 lb. black goldendoodle or grandparents and also have trunk space, and the kicker was safety. While mini vans are not cool they are helpful and safe. I LOVE that I can put my kids in their car seats in their bucket seats and then push them into the middle of the car, so if someone t bones us they are less likely to take a bumper to the dome. I cannot put my ego before my kid’s safety. It’s also nice that I can open the sliding doors with a fob or button and since they just slide back I don’t have to worry about smacking into someone else’s car. Opening or closing my trunk with a button is nice too. Probably my favorite thing, since my last car was a 2010, is I can just keep my keys in my purse and my doors will unlock based on proximity. I know, I know, for anyone that bought a car anytime soon that is a standard but I have been holding a kid and digging in my purse for my keys way too many times. That is over! So while it pains me that blasting Four Year Strong or giving someone the stink eye out of a minivan doesn’t really seem cool or menacing…at least my life is easier and my kids are safer. I have no cool points, but as my friend John said, “being cool is a pain in the ass.”
Life with Littles 