Too Cool For a Mini Van? THINK AGAIN.


My husband and I thought we were too cool for a mini van. Even after we drove one to Colorado and absolutely loved it, we still thought of ourselves as above the ugly, dreaded, so NOT cool mini van.


Let me tell you something. YOU ARE NEVER ABOVE A MINI VAN. If you have two or more children and you think you are above getting a mini van than you are sorely mistaken. 

 In order for me to stay home with my children, I had to trade in my new Mazda CX9 for an old Toyota Sequoia. My husband chose this vehicle because of its third row seat and its impeccable engine. It seemed like the perfect addition to our SUPER COOL lifestyle. I mean we could totally fit three car seats and a stroller in there all while affording the car payment on one income! 

 Well, 6 months and three children later, this perfect car is in some desperate need for repairs. My irritations with it had already begun as I put what seemed to be an endless supply of gas into it even though I hardly leave the house. The doors are also ridiculously heavy, they literally don't stay open. I can't tell you how many times I have been jacked or one of my children have been jacked by a car door in the past 6 months.

 I walked into the repair shop with a list of issues for them to fix. The driver's side seat belt wasn't working, the tailgate no longer opened, and the air shocks or whatever were messed up. These guys took my car for 8 hours and after $1200 of repairs suggested I consider replacing the timing belt for an additional $1200. When the guy returned from test driving it, he handed me the keys and said, "that's a mean ride you've got there." Here I am thinking, the only thing that is mean about that ride is the DRIVER. I am angry at myself for having made such an unrealistic purchase in said mean vehicle.

On a side note: I just told my two year old to go change his ninja turtle's diaper in order to buy myself some more time writing. He said, "ok!" and ran to his room. I can hear him over the intercom...This should be interesting. 

Back to the story:


So today, I returned to the car place to have the seat belt part they had ordered put in. I thought I could take my two smallest with me, load them into the Sit & Stand stroller and walk over to the real estate office I've been doing some part-time paperwork for. I get out of the car and attempt to open the tailgate that they had "fixed" a few days ago. It wouldn't budge. I call the car place and ask them to have someone come out and assist me, which they did and we ended up having to pull the giant sit & stand stroller out of a back window. The entire time we struggled with this, my two year old was crying and yelling at the top of his lungs, 

"I come too mommy!" 

He thought I had left him there. 

I get both children into the stroller and grab my coffee thinking,

 "SO glad I brought coffee!" 

I place the coffee in the ever so awesome sit & stand cup holder, I mean whoever thought about putting a cup holder in a stroller was a GENIUS, and I continued on our journey down the street. 

First bump we hit, coffee goes flying all over the baby blanket and my jacket.

 Ok, so maybe the cup holder was not so genius after all or maybe Einstein Bagels needs to invest in those little green spill stoppers that Starbucks uses...I dunno. 

I look up and there stands and eighty-something old man who smirks and says, "so you decided to have children eh?" Ah, yes, sir. I did.

In order to salvage the remainder of my coffee, I hold it in my left hand while attempting to steer with my right. Have you ever seen someone try to steer a sit & stand with one hand? Let's just say the people driving on Southern Blvd. this morning were thoroughly entertained.

As I reached the final destination, I found myself having a day dream about a vehicle with doors and a tailgate that open from the push of a button. A vehicle that can fit multiple car seats, adults, groceries and a stroller. A vehicle with drop down DVD screens and individualized head sets for long road trips. A vehicle with decent gas mileage despite it's size...

 Now what vehicle could possibly have all of these ridiculously convenient traits for my current lifestyle?????

You guessed it folks!

An Ugly, dreaded, SO not cool MINI VAN....

Toyota Sequoia anyone? 


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