Why a 7-year-old Should Not Buy a Car

I am a minivan driving mama. I never thought I would be. Driving a minivan that is- always planned on being a mama. When Eric and I first got married we vowed that someday when we had a few kids we would be SUV people- none of this soccer mom- minivan thing for us.

We had our share of beater cars, 87 Honda Civic- dubbed little gray- which we drove till I made the engine fall out (true story for another day)

(not actual car but a lot like this one)

a red Toyota Camry that made a loud thunk if you turned the wheel too far, a Toyota Tercel who's passenger seat was held up with a bucket, a Nissan Pickup, and finally we got a car we really loved a Mazda 3.

(ignore the look on my face- and I was very pregnant with Lucas)

The Mazda was a stick and other than the Honda Civic, which I made the engine drop out of, I had not driven a stick. Luckily, I had better luck with this and I loved this car. I would drop it back down to 4th and zip around those slow semi's- saying "zoom zoom" as I did.

But then we ran into a problem. A problem that we would encounter again and again.

My husband's height.

Eric is 15" taller than me. Now before you ask how short I am- you should be asking how tall he is. I come in at a pretty average 5'5"- Eric he is 6'8" (or 5'20" as he likes to tell people who ask how tall he is). When I was pregnant with our second we realized there was no way a car seat would fit behind Eric with the seat all of the way back as he needs it. So we traded in the Mazda 3 for a Mazda 5.

A couple of years later we realized that even this wouldn't work for us if we added a third kid. We went to an auto show, sat in a Dodge Caravan and we became mini-van people. We got the mini-van with the biggest engine possible but Eric is itching for more. He wants a Hemi- he is missing the Hemi his recently sold truck had- now that he has a company vehicle.

So yesterday while Alex was at a birthday party, the rest of us went and looked at a Dodge Durango with the Hemi of course- mostly to humor Eric. As we sat in it and put Ryder's car seat in it- I quickly shot down Eric's Hemi dream as I talked about school pick-ups and accessibility and all that practical stuff us mom think about.

Lucas- well he was another story. "I love this car! Look at this! Isn't this fancy. Look, I could sit back here and fit really good. I really think we should get it."

When the car salesman stepped away I told Lucas- you can't seem like you want it so much otherwise we won't get the best price. "oh" he said- as it seemed to sink in.

The salesman returned. "Oh look mom! Look at this button that moves the seat- isn't that awesome! Wow, I really like this. We definitely need to get this car!"

And that my friends is why if we do buy a new car Lucas will be staying at home.

P.S. Since there is still a week left of the month- Ten Things to Smile About This month will be next Tuesday May 1st! This is your chance to look back and the month and find ten things that made you smile! More info here.