Husband (to me) “I want you to have the car that you want”. Me to husband, “I WANT a Mini Cooper, but that’s not very practical.”
Now you know how our van shopping is going! My husband remarked the other day that a mini-van seems to be some sort of status symbol among moms, you know, you have one kid and go buy the mini-van as fast as you can because now you’re a mom…or something like that. Hmmm, somehow, I missed the need for that status symbol. I’m still coming to grips with the fact that if I have one more child I will have no choice but to purchase a van.
Currently, I have 3 kids in the back of our SUV (yes, in their carseats). It’s kinda nice, I can reach them to do things like recover dropped flip-flops and share drinks. I know that’s not happening in a van!
So, why don’t I have a van? For starters they’re expensive! We’ve decided on a Honda Odyssey and my goodness, I can pay off my house, or buy a van! Actually, not quite pay off my house, but it’s pretty close. My SUV was nowhere near that expensive.
But really, it comes back to state of mind. I remarked to a friend the other day that I really sympathize with those girls who find themselves with an unwanted/unplanned pregnancy. You see, I didn’t plan my first child, she was a surprise. Now, when I found out I was pregnant, I was in a good position to be pregnant. I was married almost 2yrs, had 3 months of school left so I would definitely finish before the baby arrived, my husband had a good job – I actually wasn’t working at the time but I was getting ready to start hunting for a job for after school was over. My husband was excited, my family was excited, his family was excited. So, suddenly finding myself pregnant shouldn’t have necessarily been that bad.
But, getting pregnant just wasn’t in my plans for a few years. Once I got over the initial shock – actually, that happened at the exact same time that the baby arrived, I was happy to be a mom. And if I had to do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love being a mom! That said, even though I now have 3 kids – once we had one child, why wait to go ahead and have more! Anyways, there just some things I haven’t done. I never joined the Mom’s group at Church – I just couldn’t. And I have not purchased a van. If people ask what I do I don’t say “referee, taxi service, chef, housekeeper, and mom”, I say, “I’m a graphic designer, I play in a band, I sew, etc.”.
Of course, there are some things I have done. I have a mommy blog (but you knew that already). I do all sorts of activities with my kids (just today we were at a kid’s event at the park). When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, my oldest will tell you that she wants to be a mom. But I’ve been holding out on the van. I’m sure I’ll like it once I have it, but what’s the hurry?