My Shiny, Blue Minivan

I have a van. It's a minivan really. It is big and shiny and blue and we have a love/hate relationship.

I can remember when I would talk about how I would never be the kind of mom to drive a minivan. Those moms were old and frumpy. They were soooo uncool!! That was back when I only had a couple of kiddos and we all fit comfortably into a car. Then, when I was pregnant and about to pop with number 3, I went for a test drive in a cute, blue minivan and I fell in love instantly. I no longer cared about being "hip." I wanted large sliding doors that allowed me to strap my children in without breaking my back and 15 cup holders for all the juice boxes and a HUGE interior to try and hide all of the crackers and cereal that would be thrown and crushed on the floor (seriously, I think we could probably sponsor and feed ten starving children for a year with the amount of food we have crushed on the floor of that van right now....).

However, I got to that point in my life where being "uncool" was just fine and dandy with me. I have grown fond of being unhip. It is feasible. It is definable and it is oh so comfortable.

So, this love hate relationship between my van and me just took a turn for the worse. When I was driving home from the store two days ago the air quit working. I know, this wouldn't really be much of a problem for most of you currently, but it is still hot here during the day and the last thing I need is 4 sweaty, whiny kids in the back of my van stinkin' up the place every time I need to go anywhere.

So, we took our little minivan in to "the car doctor" today and the news is not good, of course. Is there ever good news when you have to take your car in?? (Things I would rather do than have to take my car into the shop: have a root canal, go in for semi-annual gynecology visits, jump naked into a pool of thumbtacks......ok, so that last one is a little bit dramatic...but you get my point.) The van will be expensive to fix. More money than is worth putting into it at this point.

I told one of my friends this and she got all excited and was like "Well, at least now you don't have to drive a minivan around anymore! You should go look at SUVs." I gasped. I couldn't believe it. I will NOT be a traitor!! No, thanks. I will stick with a boring, uncool, "stuck-in-a-family-way" minivan, thank you very much. (I read an article once about how minivans scream "I am stuck in this boring family life and don't know how to escape it." I don't remember exactly what it said.....or where I read it.. or who wrote it. It must have been a really great article. :P)

I have started looking at vans online now....trying to decide which kind we should start to look at. I made sure the blinds were closed tight so my poor, dying, shiny blue van outside couldn't see. I think it would hurt her feelings and she may revolt and spit her oil out all over the driveway or quit blowing out her nice, cold air to help cool us down on a hot....oh wait...she already did that, huh? Anyways.....

So it looks like we have a couple long days of van hunting ahead of us. And yes, it will for sure be a MINIVAN that we buy. I will be driving one of these abominable vehicles around until I die and someone pries the keys out of my cold, dead hand.


DISCLAIMER: In case you didn't sense the sarcasm in this post...I LOVE minivans and I don't think they are uncool or ugly. I think they have come a long way and are actually pretty easy on the eyes these days. Although, maybe that is because my eyesight is not what it used to be.....anyhoo......