By TMoM Team Member Rachel Hoeing
I heard a comment the other day from a mom at school … “I told myself I will NEVER drive a minivan.”
Really? Are we still saying that?
Maybe it is because I have been a mom for almost 11 years, or maybe it is because I am 40 years old, or maybe it is because I have never given a darn what I drive, but I am 100% perfectly fine with driving my mom-mobile. As far as people thinking my car isn’t cool enough, I am over it. Here’s why:
If you drive a luxury car and get a dent in it, more than likely it will need to be fixed pronto. You can’t drive a nice car around town with it looking beat up! But a minivan – I think it is tough to find one without a dent! Hence, I have had two dents on my car for well over two years thanks to my bike rack. I think it gives the car some character.
All day long I hear whistles and cat calls from young men as I walk down the street or though stores. Thank goodness I have a minivan into which I can escape and avoid being harassed as I drive through town. (In case you were wondering, if there were such a thing as sarcasm font, I would have used it in this paragraph.)
If there were no minivans, what in the world would first time pregnant women complain about? It is fun to see them roll their eyes about the old ladies in minivans and talk about how they will never be one. Keep me posted on how fun it is to load that car seat carrier into your SUV while juggling the diaper bag, purse, crying baby and whatever else you’ve got in your hands. Been there. Done that. No thanks.
Take a look at this photo on the right. Know what that is? That is my front windshield when I pick up my kids along with four others from school. Those are the nametags that tell who I am picking up. Know what that means? I am only driving to school a third of the time that I normally would because I can fit an army into my mom-mobile and we carpool! Heaven.
Remember when your kid swung his car door open and smashed the car next to you in the parking lot? I don’t. Because we have backseat doors that slide back baby! Not a problem. Doesn’t prevent ME from hitting other cars, but you get the idea.
Imagine climbing into your friend’s luxury four door car and seeing french fries, gum wrappers and old lollipop sticks on the floor. Ewww! Gross! Who would keep their car looking like that? WE WOULD! But that’s why we’ve got the mom-mobile! No one notices when a minivan is piled with crap. It is expected and appreciated.
Speaking of being piled with crap … in case of emergency, we could live out of our van for at least a week. Seriously. We’ve got food, drinks, blankets, entertainment, barf bags, you name it. If the van ever breaks down on an old desolate highway, we are gonna be OK.
This past weekend we needed pine needles. We took the two seats out of the middle of my van, put down the back two seats and guess what? We piled over 20 bales of pine straw into that baby! This “extra space” perk is also useful when it comes to moving, beach trips, etc. There is always room for more junk!
As my children get older I have found that the third row of the van is especially useful after they have been outside in the hot sun playing for hours. Encourage them to sit all the way in the back and open those windows. Keep the stank back there please.
Lastly, there have been many times in the crazy life of a mom where you just don’t have the time to change your children or yourself out of one outfit and into the next between appointments, classes, work, practices, etc. Those tinted windows on the back of the minivan make it easy for you to crawl back there and use it as your own personal dressing room. Come on, you know you’ve done it!
So minivan ladies, are you with me? Do you love your mom-mobile? Don’t worry … when my kids are driving themselves around in their own cars one day I am sure I will be happy to get myself a little car that is the exact opposite of what I currently own, but until then … this minivan rocks!
