I have a dilemma. It is a serious problem for a prideful, style-conscious woman, such as myself. Also a problem for a Terrill, we have unspoken rules.
I have fallen in love.
With a MINI-VAN!
What? You ask yourself. Terrill's do not drive mini-vans. Young, hip mom's drive large SUV's or Volvo wagons. We have our pride here.
Well, let me tell you. Young, hip moms do drive mini-vans. I have been watching. I live in a somewhat high end area. Women here still drive them! Mini-vans are the great equalizer. You can't drive just any van, though. It has to be one of the top 3. It has to have a few bells and whistles. You have to have your standards.
Let me give you a little history. I have always believed in the van, for other people. They are so convenient. They were made for families. This is proven merely by looking around any school parking lot. However, I counted myself among those who would never drive one. I figured I would drive a big car. I grew up driving a truck and my parents even had a 15 passenger van when I was in High School. (I am still trying to figure that one out, only 4 kids lived at home!)
So I thought I would jump into a Yukon or the like. When expressing my car concerns to others, I often get "But you seem like the type that would drive a Volvo." I take that as a sincere compliment.
So we started car shopping last weekend. After our Christmas break debacle, it was obvious that it was time. We narrowed it down to a few different cars to check out. We hit the Ford Dealership and drove the new Freestyle (kind of a crossover wagon/SUV). It is nice, it seats seven, leather seats, on and on. I was bored. I was annoyed that to get to the back seats I had to flip a seat down. The Pacifica looks fabulous and I really liked it. But it only seats 6 and you have to flip a seat down as well. Now that I am looking another carseat in the face, I don't want to flip seats. I want Henry to be able to get in by himself and buckle up. I want convenience, I want freedom, I want doors that open at the touch of a button. It seemed obvious to everyone else what I wanted, but I was scared to admit it.
David's observation, when I told him of my boredom, was that any car we drove was going to be boring. We were trying to buy a practical car. Nothing exciting there.
He was so wrong.
I got behind the wheel of a 2006 Sienna. I squealed with delight at the 27 different cup holders, I was in awe at the ease of the flip down seats, I was smitten with the 8 seats and the middle seat that moves forward so that you can more easily reach baby. I loved the "conversation" mirror so I could view the whole car without turning around. The center console even flips down so you can easily move into the back. Do I need to go on?
Even though we are still going to look at some Volvos and the Odyssey, I am smitten.
I think I can live with that.
I just hope the Terrills will still accept me as one of them. I like to think I am just paving the way for others.
17 comments:
I loved my mini van. It was roomy and had good gas mileage. Although I do like the suburban for reasons as it is bigger and it has 4WD.
I think when our time comes we will probably succomb to the mini-van too. You can't beat the features and gas mileage. And you can get them with our new favorite feature - AWD.
Go for the Odyssey. It totally ROCKS. Your life will change and you will be free.
And you will still be a hip mom.
I LOVE our Odyssey. I LOVE IT! You will love a minivan. They are made for moms with kids. They have everything you could ever want and need when you're in a car with your kids. My life was made easier when we got our minivan. Maybe someday I'll be cool and get something else.... but probably not... it's just too convenient. Get the dvd player too... it's worth whatever it costs.
I had a Dodge Grand Caravan for awhile. The part I liked was the tons of cargo space. And if you take the seats out you can fit in a full sheet of plywood (which we did often as we were constantly remodeling our house).
As long as you feel hip then you can drive whatever strikes your fancy.
I'm with you on the Sienna Phoebe. Love it! I guess the only drawback to it is the packages the features are offered. People always complain about the option packages being confusing and hard to get what you really want. My suggestion is to buy one used from someone who likes cars "loaded" and get all the options for way less than the brand new ones.
Next van I get will be a Sienna just for the mere fact that I will be able to find it amidst the sea of Odysseys currently parked in the church parking lot.
Janelle, I hear you on the new Sienna. There are 24 different packages just for the LE class alone. Luckily, we don't believe in buying new (or more accurately, we can't afford to) so we will be buying a used one with tons of options, hopefully.
That CV1 ward is crazy for the Odysseys, that's for sure. Pretty popular here, too. I haven't driven one yet, but I LOVED the Sienna.
If it helps, I am a Terrill and I have nothing against minivans. Minivans are convenient and way cooler than they used to be. What I don't like are the ones from the 80s/early 90s that look like dustbusters.
(I also have nothing against full-size vans. Sure there were only 4 kids at home but you CAN'T beat the long family trip where each person gets their own bench.)
I love my ODY and I even have it in a sassy red! I was shocked that I was a mini-van Mom but I love it, automatic sliding doors, leather, heated seats and DVD! and of course lots of cup holders! Go for it!
I am currently driving a 1995 Ford Windstar. When it breaks (three years) I am replacing it with a Sienna. I LOVE them!!! I especially like the seat that moves forward for baby!! Oh to have one..
..okay, now I'm coveting and you haven't even bought it yet.
You guys are all making me feel so much better about my mini-van obsession!
And it's also not to say that we are getting a NEW van. It will be used.
In defense of the Terrills...It's not that they are against mini-vans, they just don't have them.
When I told my mom we might have to get a van she said, "Oh, that's too bad!"
Gotta love Babs.
for one - hip is relative.
what is hip in one town, isn't always in another.
i will always remember fondly what (always stylish) uncle bill said when he saw our house for the first time.
"that is the ugliest house i have ever seen!"
and i was thankful.
i think you should get what you want, and be excited about it and not worry about what anyone else thinks.
and it's true the terrills are a little weird about some things.
that being said, i don't think i would ever buy one, unless they went diesel and i could go bio.
although we do rent them when we are travelling - our kids love that.
I don't think you can go wrong with a minivan for convenience sake!! The storage space is spectacular, too!
I have to say that I am very pleased with the MDX though. It's a nice alternative. It gets as good of gas mileage as a mini-van, which was a big factor to me. I really didn't want to go to a full size SUV and spend all that $$$ on gas! The seat thing hasn't been a problem for us. It's nice because they lay down flat with the flip of one lever and Jaden can easily do it himself.
We too went older (2002) and got more extras: sun-roof, leather, heated seats. It doesn't have the DVD or navigation system but we considered that a bonus since we have our portable DVD player that can be brought along at our discretion and we also have a portable GPS. You can't beat the price of used with all the extras!
The minivan will last you longer than our car though. The space is perfect for us right now and we have room to grow a little but after that the storage will become an issue and we'll need more room.
CONGRATULATIONS on the discovery. I think you'll love it!
Felipe just went to the auto show last weekend and was able to see tons of vans and suvs. You should check out the GMC Acadia, it is an suv, but has van configuration inside, i.e 2 captains chairs in the middle row and it seats 7 as well. Also the Hyundai Entourage is nice, we test drove one last summer. It has a great warranty and some good features as well. Both of those cars have great websites. I like mini vans too--- I remember being mortified when my parents bought one in high school, but now that I have kids and all the stuff you need to tote along with kids--- I think a mini van would be great and make car travel so much more organized and spacious:)! Happy van hunting!!!
I think that the Terrill aversion to mini-vans is grounded in the fact that the first ones were pretty ugly.
And we don't seem to have any rhyme of reason for the way we choose cars in this family.
We've had a Fiat, and old Ford, and old Dodge, and 41 Chevy 3/4 ton flat bed truck, a VW bug, two station wagons, a VW bus, a 15 passenger van - which was like a home on wheels and had more plusses that minuses for many years, Jeeps of two varieties, and two Acuras and now a Volvo - there is not a thread to all of these!
And we had a car in Centerville that I for the life of me at the moment cannot remember - they don't make them anymore.
And we've had a legion of trucks.
And who can forget the Peugeot - and Grandma Terrill's Dodge while they were on their mission.
And the little car in Centerville was a Ford Pinto - very chic for its time.
I have rented Minivans and didn't mind them.
But then I enjoyed driving the big van.
Have you seen the Dodge Sprinter vans? They come in diesel!
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