To Van or not to Van?

 Now that we have three babies jammed across the backseat of my Jeep and little room for anything else the mini- van question reared its ugly head. But no matter how much easier it would make my life, I just can’t bring myself to get one.  I get it, I have a family, it’s not like a hot sports car is in my future but I consider a van to be the final nail in the coffin of my youth.

Let’s take a moment to talk about me: I wear glasses because I don’t feel like wearing contacts. I’m always in flats for comfort - but not cute ballet flats because my feet are too cold. Actually, I’m usually in a sneakers or boot with thick sleeping socks underneath to maintain my body temperature. I don’t wear makeup because then I would have to take it off before bed. Basically, I’m practical and don’t care too much about what other people think. In fact, I may own more than one pair of jeans with an elastic waist and I’ll usually put my sunglasses over my glasses if it’s too bright out – it’s a good look. With all I do for comfort and ease I still can’t bring myself to buy the van.

It’s not that I have anything personal against the mini van. I’ve seen some nice souped up vans. When I was a teenager I couldn’t get enough of my parent’s mini van. It had leather seats, GPS, DVD player and Sirius radio. Of course I didn’t have a car of my own so any car, even a van, was a huge upgrade. I even drove the van to a first date once. IF that doesn’t scream: “I want to settle down into a long term relationship” I’m not sure what does. 

I think my fear of vans stemmed from an epiphany I had while driving one. I was in my sweats and glasses rocking out to some golden oldies (We’ll leave my taste in older music for another post) and I pulled up next to a coupe with a couple of young guys. I glanced over at their car and for a split second I realized I looked like a middle-aged mom who just dropped her oldest off at soccer camp rather than the young energetic teenager that I was. I quickly ripped my ponytail out of my hair and switched the radio to hot 97 and from then on decided to act my age and swore off mini-vans forever.

 

I guess like some people feel like they aren’t ready for marriage or they aren’t ready for kids. (To them I say HA! Ready or not sometimes those things sneak up on you) I am not ready for a van - Unless it’s an old school VW van or has a wizard decal on the side. I’m always ready for those.