Minivan Mafia

There is a mafia in Katy. Did you know? I call it the Minivan Mafia; made of up of minivan driving mamas, this mafia drives me insane more times than not. In particular I take offense with their random declarations of "drive 25 mph regardless of the speed limit" days, resulting in me being tailgated in a school zone (where I refuse to drive an iota over the posted sign) or being boxed in when I want to drive the posted 40mph. But regardless of my feelings for the mafia I must confess I'm the one of the newest minivan mama members. Yep, we did it -- we made the minivan plunge; Grace's addition to our family made it practically necessary. I have a love/hate relationship with Minnie...

Things I hate:
1. the way it looks -- seriously the engineers designing the thing must not have taken visual aesthetics into account at all. Then again it's a minivan not a sports car. It's not bad for a minivan.
2. Cool points GONE -- seriously. To buy it I had to at least concede that mom jeans are comfortable and that fanny packs are practical -- even if I swore I would never wear either one. Owning Minnie gives me pause ever so often in my wardrobe choices. Am I cool enough to still pull off the vintage burn-out shirt and sassy gold flats or should I pick something in an awesome cotton/knit blend GIANT print with GIANT pockets on the butt and boob (you know...for convenience).
3. Lack of "street cred". Admit it -- you've thought at least once that all minivan mamas are terrible drivers. So while I've made my car a phone-free (including hands-free devices) and food-free, I still get the occasional looks of disgust from passers-by. Also, more often than not, I feel like the minivan in CARS that looks like it's working as hard as it can to pass the big rig Mack. (on a side note -- SUV mamas hate to be passed by a minivan. It must bruise their SUV-ego).

Things I love:
1. Low ground clearance. Even though my Expedition had fancy running-board-step-things, I still had to lift Grace in her infant carrier above my face to get her in and out of the car. Do that 10 times in one day (for 5 stops) and alone that will make your back almost give out. Add to it lifting Jack and Sam in and out and my back had about had it. In Minnie I lift Grace to waist level, if that high, and the boys can climb in and out by themselves. GLORIOUS!!
2. Sliding doors -- Did you know little boys don't know or much care about the nuances of parking lot etiquette? Subtleties like "don't slam your door into the car next to you" are lost on small kids. With Minnie I don't have to worry about that. I decide when they slide open and I decide when they slide closed. This also means I don't have to help as much with the "getting in" process which means I don't have little boys running amok in the parking lot which means less chances of a car/child collision. To add to that I no longer have to worry about parking my giant SUV exactly in the middle so I can squeeze two doors open wide enough to haul kids in and out. Again GLORIOUS!
3. Space -- As large as my Expedition was on the outside it wasn't that large inside. Minnie seats 7 compared to the Expedition's 8 only because Minnie has captain's chairs in the first row instead of a bench. BUT Minnie will hold 4 large suitcases upright behind the last seat. The Expy might have held one...maybe. And since the Expy had a bench seat the 3rd row was basically inaccessible with 3 carseats.
4. Super-Awesome convenience features. Seriously what the engineers ignored in visual aesthetics they more than made up for in convenience features. Minnie has cup-holders made for both cups and juice boxes (AWESOME!) -- and none in short supply, storage bins and power outlets, and a bunch of other things that I technically could live without but that make my car trips with 3 kids so much easier!

At the end of the day my "loves" more than outshine my "hates" and so Minnie is mine. Add to the mix the fact that Minnie is newer than the Expy was, has less miles and literally cost us nothing (we even-traded -- gotta stay on our debt-free plan!) and Minnie is spectacular!! I love driving Minnie and should've gotten it a long time ago.

My only caveat -- in case I slip, someone remind me about the mom-jeans and fanny pack, ok?!