The Minivan- The Death of A Dream

A while back we purchased a minivan. I have never wanted a minivan. In fact, I have always declared since I saw the first minivan and thought it resembled a woman's plaything on wheels that I would never own one. They are the quintessential symbol of motherhood and the automobile of everyone no longer young, beautiful and vibrant. Quite simply, they are the death of coolness.





Well, the years passed and my coolness faded anyway, I suppose. The body styles of minivans(thankfully) have changed and they have become a car that has so many benefits for families, they can no longer be shunned.





We purchased a Nissan Quest, fully loaded. The only way I would agree with my husband to make the purchase is if it had all of the options and accessories. I figured if this was the death of my attractiveness, it needed to go out with style. I still needed to get past a few of my hangups about minivans, but that would surely help. Even while signing the paperwork, I had bad thoughts. For this money, I could be purchasing the SUV of my dreams. But, those thoughts were irrational. Yes, I suppose we could have gotten a very nice SUV, the kind of SUV that oozes coolness. We could have afforded a new Nissan Pathfinder Armada. However, both my husband and I thought the minivan had much more family-oriented gadgets for the money. We also thought the gas mileage would be better and the minivan's roominess would be wonderful. No more lifting the children up high into my Pathfinder, now we would be set.
My dream SUV above (tears rolling down my face, with big bottom lip poking out)




Since making this purchase, I have discovered that having a minivan is quite nice. The children love watching movies. So much so that I have made a new rule to only watch a movie when we are going somewhere at least 30 minutes away. If the destination is closer, too bad. Children do not need to watch movies every time you go somewhere. Heck, what happened to looking out the window? Spoiled kids!





And, the death of my attractiveness has not come with the minivan-or maybe it has. I am probably in a dream world. The same dream world that I was in several years back when I was wearing an ankle bracelet and was told by a coworker that I was "stuck in the 80s". AAAGGHH! Within seconds the ankle bracelet was a distant memory, shoved deep in my pocket. Now it is buried in my jewelry box waiting for the day when ankle bracelets are back in style. But then again, when they actually are "cool" again, I won't know it. :)