How I Became a Mini Van Mom

The mini van- I would be willing to be more car has more of a stigma attached to it than the mini van. From movies, tv shows, and magazines, the harried soccer mom is shown pulling into the field with kids, equipment, dirt, and snacks tumbling out the side. It's not exactly a complimentary imagine of the modern mother and her ability to maintain her vehicle.

This was the image that played in my head as we went to get my first vehicle after we got married. My husband and I had always planned on trying to conceive right after we said I do, and there was no way my little Ford Focus was going to accommodate a car seat- not that I was even pregnant yet. More on that later.

Josh sent me to a dealership and told me to test drive what I liked (within reason), just to make sure it had enough room to accommodate our future family. I looked and looked, and settled on what I would find out later was the stupidest choice for us on the lot- the Ford Escape.

Oh, it drove smoothly down the road. It had all the bells and whistles. It got fantastic gas mileage. And when I asked the car salesman if it could accommodate a car seat, he assured me it would be no problem.

When Josh, whose 6-3, got in the car, he balked. "You're sure this is what you want?" He asked. "This seems really little for us both to be so tall, let alone putting a baby in it."

I repeated what the car salesman had told me, and besides that, I couldn't handle a large SUV without wrecking, and it's not like I would ever drive a van.

So with some reluctance on his part, I got the Escape.

Here's me circa 2013, desperately wanting to seem like I knew what I was doing. Hint: I didn't.

Fast forward to one year later, when he, my massive belly, and I were attempting to install a rear facing car seat behind the drivers seat.

"It won't fit!" He groaned, after struggling for several minutes. "There's no way I can wedge that in there."

I went to his side and looked. Sure enough, for him to even get the car seat halfway in behind me, my knees would be under my chin as I drove. Not a safe or comfortable look for the new mom to be. We installed her between the two seats, making it harder to see her and harder to hand things back there, but it's not like we had a lot of options. It slowly began to settle in that I had made the wrong choice in vehicle.

The more we travelled, the more glaring the problems became. Babies require stuff, lots of stuff, and so does a 6-3 man and his 5-8 wife. With both our families leaving across the state, we were constantly jamming things into the car, packed in like sardines and riding without a fully visible back glass and bags under our feet.

Finally in June, we realized what we had to do- we had to get the van. It was the only car that would get us the gas mileage we needed for as much as we travelled, the safety for our child, the room for all our sanity, and the extra features without breaking the bank.

So bless my husbands sweet soul, we went to the dealership together and signed up for the mini van life.

And you know what?

I love it.

Enough space for all the important things- like Josie's popper and Wonder cup!

I now see what all the moms have been raving about for years. The power doors make getting Josie in and out a breeze. The DVD player makes long trips infinitely more bearable. The ride is smooth, and bless my soul, there's room. Oh is there room. There's room for our legs and room for our stuff and room for people. I almost wept with joy when I saw the ease with which we loaded it to go on our first trip. It was a mothers dream, albeit a practical one.

So moms, staring down the barrel of the impending mini van before you, I promise it's worth it. It may seem like where all your youth and dreams and vanity go to die, but it's not. Once you slide a pack and play, a high chair, four suitcases, a toy box, and a dog crate in the back, you will find its the perfect car for your new kind of dreams. Dreams where you can ride in peace while your child watches a DVD, and your chin no longer sits under you knees. And for what it's worth, I still listen to Hits One and pull open the sunroof- it's just now for school drop off instead of attending classes myself!