Goldfish Under the Car Seat

I swore, SWORE, that I would never drive a minivan.

And now, here is the sweet ride I tool about town in:

(Truth in advertising – this is actually not my van, but looks pretty much like it. I was too lazy to go outside and take a photo of the van.  The kids would have traipsed outside with me, then screamed when we went back in 3 minutes later…this was just easier)

I am the lucky owner of a 2005 tan Honda Odyssey with a broken DVD player and scratches on the exterior from the time that D Paul thought it would be a good idea to clear the snow off of the cars with a metal snowshovel.  That’s another blog post entirely.

When I found out that we were expecting twins, it quickly became clear that my vehicle at the time (a 2003 silver Saturn VUE that I loved) was not going to cut the mustard.  The police frown upon putting infant carseats in the cargo area, I hear.

And so, I did my research, and narrowed down what kind of van we would be getting.

•    Honda or Toyota (best rated in Consumer Reports, one of my husband’s favorite resources of all time).
•   Payment of $300 per month or less
•   DVD player (I’m no dummy.  Long car rides with 3 kids = need for distraction.  Yes, my kids watch more than the recommended 30 minutes per day of TV when they are in the car.  Or when they are not in the car.  We’ll just add that to the list of “parental failures” on my part.)
•  Leather seats (getting out of a car with cloth seats while wearing a skirt and heels is not pretty.  Just trust me on that one.)
•  A color I did not hate.  (Apparently that blue gray color has been quite popular for vans.  I am not a fan. That became somewhat of a problem.)

And so, we found my van at CarMax.  Admittedly, there are plusses to this vehicle:

• You can practically fit a full size heifer in the back cargo area.  Alright, that is a bit of an exaggeration.  However, D Paul’s comment upon seeing the back of the van for the first time was “I’m pretty sure we could fill that with water and use it as a swimming pool”.
• Dual sliding doors.  This has made my life infinitely easier.
• Decent gas mileage.  I average about 24-25 mpg.  Not stellar, but not awful for as big as the van is.
• The combination of folding and collapsible seats makes it possible to haul some larger items.
• CUPHOLDERS.  Lots and lots of cupholders.

However, there are some minuses as well:

• It’s a MINIVAN.  (Cue all stereotypes of soccer moms, girl scout troops, etc.)
• Vans, in general, are not the cutest vehicles on the road.
• The DVD player stopped working a few months back, and I now have dual screens strapped to the headrests of the front seats.  That makes my van even MORE special.  (And not in a good way).
• One accessory jack has never worked.

I’ve come to terms that this is the vehicle I will have for some years to come.  I’ll have to probably trade in the current one in 2 or 3 years for a newer model (120, 000 miles and counting, and I am driving about 70 miles round trip per day.).  However, I know, deep in my heart….I am NOT  minivan person.  I’m just pretending to be one right now.