Wheels

So it has been a long time in the works; we knew that we need to get a new automobile, but we were afraid to admit that our next purchase is going to have to be more "family-oriented". To me, this means able to withstand crushed cheerios, repel puke and generally have the capability to cart around a kid and all of her schwag like I am a roadie for a KISS concert.

Now, we are not car people, but we both avoided conversation about the impending asteroid crashing through our atmosphere of perceived coolness. We always joked whenever we would see one of these Mom-mobiles with bumper stickers and safety shades and infant load times that would rival the geriatric buses to the casinos. Now it is our turn to buy something to handle a kid and two dogs and the every day support requirements of a 10-month old.

We had three choices that we considered:
SUV
Station Wagon
Mini Van

SUV
The popular choice these days. It comes equipped with standard car features, can ride like a car and does not have the pariah stigma of the other two choices. Can come with four-wheel drive for those tough suburban obstacles such as mall parking. The gas mileage is crap, but it lets you cram all kinds of kids and stuff into a large area and most importantly, you still look socially cool tooling around town.

Station Wagon
Somewhat old school. It is sort of dorky, but the clean lines of today's models are a far cry from yesteryear's ideal of tweed jackets with leather elbow patches. The station wagon is a little more utilitarian, not as popular, and still allows the user to retain some sense of coolness.

Mini-Van (Post-apocalyptic dorkmobile)
It is hard to admit, but this particular vehicle makes the most sense. It's is big, versatile and can transport kids, crap and the bitterness of forgotten youth if you fold down the rear seats. To me, mini vans signify the acceptance of being a parent. I am sure by kid #2 most people own a similar vehicle, but it seems with kid #1 most people think they can still be the hip and sophisticated people that they feel they are. (This is the same feeling that goes into remission and causes the mid-life convertible to bought around age 43)

After considering the two choices (Courtney wouldn't consider the third) we ended up with a nice station wagon to bridge the divide.