Minivan Mama

I vowed I would never drive a minivan. When I only had the 2 oldest boys my little silver Cavalier suited just fine. Unless of course you wanted to bring anything with you or bring anything home that is. However when Wee One (baby #3) came along there was just no way I was going to fit 3 kids in car seats and boosters into the back of that little car.

Papa Bear had a quad cab pick up at the time and this was going to be our solution but after a few trips with all 3 boys in the back seat it was clear that this was not going to be long term. Little Bear (6 year old) and Fuzzy Bear (2.5 year old) took turns poking, pinching, and pulling at Wee One the entire trip. Fuzzy took his toys, blankets and hats away and left Wee One screaming as if he had taken his left arm or right leg. This would result in Little Bear yelling/hitting at Fuzzy and then Fuzzy would scream too. So now I had 2 screaming kids and one complaining about the crying for the duration of my trip. No thank you.

We needed to go shopping for a new vehicle. We looked at a few cross over and small SUV type vehicles and whatnot but none of them where going to work for us. They either didn't have a big enough trunk to fit a stroller or they were too hard to access the 3rd row seating. I had to face the fact that a van was the only feasible way too go. So I test drove and surprisingly liked the newer style Caravans. Since Papa Bear is a Dodge man this seemed the way to go.

A van. A freaking van. A kid hauler. A loser cruiser. A grocery getter. A coolness repellent. A mini bus. A Mama mobile. A family truckster. Ah, Man.

Ok, if it had to be a van I was going to get the coolest van possible so I decided on a Sunburst Orange coloured Dodge Caravan with all kinds of cool features. A DVD player and a touch screen radio with a hardrive. Power doors, liftgate and windows. Stow and go seating...You name it this van has it. Short of launching into space this van does it all. It took some getting used to. I had to get used to driving (and parking) a much longer vehicle and figure out what all the millions of buttons did.

I've been driving the Kid Hauler for a year now and don't tell anyone because I'll probably deny it if they ask but I freaking LOVE my van. I can carry my 3 kids with all their diaper bags, strollers, extra clothing, snacks, toys, backpacks,etc and still have room for groceries or whatnot. The radio is pretty rocking for a factory radio. The sliding power doors are great. The power liftgate never ceases to come in handy. The DVD player is a lifesaver at times and keep the 2 oldest occupied on trips and the colour doesn't scream "I'm a sensible Mother who goes to soccer games and volunteers on the PTA". All in all it was a great purchase.

I love my loser cruiser <3.