I Like to Move it!

How fitting is it that my first Monday back with my fav, Stasha and her Listicles this late Summer involves redeeming facts about the family car?

I have been M.I.A. on Mondays recently mainly because of my recent travels- day trips, doctors appointments, and playdates, oh my! But today my schedule is free, of course except for our typical Monday grocery shopping. My date book is empty and so I can put forth the time this lovely meme deserves.

I have wrote about my conversion to worshiping in the House of Minivan. I defended my purchase when I wrote way back in December of 2010, about the kicking and screaming Bryan put forth as we settled on a our Kia Sedona. In Defense of our Minivan really summed it all up at that point - two kids, all their stuff, and the minivan.

Doesn't that just scream "American dream"?

But, I know there are some of you out there, still digging in your heels, spouting hate towards my beloved automobile.

To you I simply ask, why hate?
Where is the love, my friend?
 Minivans aren't the enemy, they don't have to be the antithesis of cool. They are functional, they are comfortable, and frankly, I cannot imagine my life as a mom without them.

Ten Reasons Why Minivans Rock!

1. No adult has to be the reject climbing over the seats to get into the back row.
All you third row SUV owners, don't pretend you don't know what I mean. Adults like leg room. They also prefer not to have to contort their bodies into shapes reminiscent of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Team just to settle into a seat. Minivans access to the back row is relatively easy.

2. It's got lots of comfortable seating!
Enough places for kids to sit without beating the crap out of each other, unless of course you have five children, then I assume they're always beating the crap out of each other anyway, so this is nothing new. There's also something called "lots of leg room". Gasp! One can sit rather comfortably in most places.

3. Automatic Doors.
Press a button and the door opens.
Imagine, coming out of the grocery store. Full cart, screaming kids, and with one little push of a button, the door opens.
Obviously the designers of this option were parents, or have spent plenty of time in the parking lots outside the local grocery stores and Targets.

4. It's like a Living Room on Wheels.
I can't take credit for this one. My dear friend Sami formerly referred to her Ford Freestyle as this, but I think this fits the minivan better. Between the seats, the television, DVD, one could spend a lazy day just buckled in.

5. The Affordable Price Point
SUVs are expensive!
Minivans surprisingly start off significantly less. Who doesn't like more money in their pocket?

6. Take out the seats and voila, truck bed!
IKEA beware! With all the seats remove, we can pack a helluva lot of stuff in that space.

7. Decent Selection
Gone are the days where a minivan meant Chrysler or Chevy only, the minivan game is open wide. Between Honda, Toyota, Kia, & Chrysler the market is open. Even Volkswagen is in the minivan business now. Bye bye to the VW bus, hello Routon!

8. Status Symbol
Okay, so maybe this is bit of a stretch, but to me "minivan" equates passing into a certain level of adulthood. One who owns and drives a minivan is in the throws of parenthood- the screaming newborn, the whining toddler, the maniacal teen, the minivan encompasses it all. The rides to soccer games, doctors appointments, and family vacations- the universal family car.

9. The Space
It's easy to move around. Even when 21.5 weeks pregnant with kid 3, I can still manage rather easily to make way into all parts of the car.
Nursing a kid in the backseat while the older one plays on the floor with a book?
Done it!
Change into my bathing suit in the parking lot of Sesame Place?
Been there!
Play hide and seek while racing down the interstate?
Now don't be a moron.
However if parked, I do think there are some ample hiding spaces.

10. It's all mine!
I love our minivan.
It's the perfect fit for our family now, today and I don't doubt when kid 3 makes his/her debut soon, we won't feel like we're busting out at the seams. It's made it's way to the beach, amusement parks, soccer practices, and so much more!
It's a reliable member of the family.

Tell me about your car. Do you love it? Hate it? Is it what you need? What your family needs?