Mini me

When we found out that we were having twins we realized that with E and L, the older kids (13 and 16 years old respectively), we were a family of 6. For travel, that's four adult sized people and two tiny people that require gigantic plastic car seats.
While we're on the subject of car seats, it seems like they could be made of a lighter material. We have sent people to the moon and I'm lugging around two car seat that have to weigh 30 lbs apiece once you put a 10 lb. baby in them. They are the albatrosses of early childhood.
Anyway, this is not a story about car seats, it's a story about the death of my youth. When I met Charlie, I was driving a Ford escort ZX2. I bought the car the same week I started my first real job, right out of college, and it sybolized my carefree youth and my independence. It was tiny and red and it had a sunroof and a stick shift. Escorts are not high performance vehicles, but I managed to get pulled over 6 times in as many years for speeding. It had over 120,000 miles on it, and had never needed major repairs. I loved the cassette player and the ashtray that could be moved from cup holder to cup holder. I love that for a $30 tank of gas, I could drive over 300 miles. Most of all, I loved that, after 5 long years, it was paid for.
Once the twins arrived, it was clear that we needed a vehicle that could seat 6 people. Since the beginning of our relationship, Charlie has complained about drivers in minivans, insisting that they are the worst drivers on the road. I think he also found minivans to be old, stuffy and a little emasculating. When we started talking bigger cars, he steered me towards SUVs or cross over vehicles, thinking he could salvage his (in his mind, anyway) cool reputation and his masculinity. Turns out, he could save neither. The problem with SUVs and crossovers is that they are not made with parents in mind. The doors open out instead of sliding, making it difficult to put a car seat in the car without hitting the car in the next parking space with the door and they are woefully short on cup holders. We looked and looked, and finding the SUV market lacking, on the advice of my women co-workers, I finally insisted on checking out the minivans.
We ended up at a Honda dealer, looking at an Odyssey. We were both reluctant and sullen at first, but as we looked, I felt myself falling in love. The Odessey has bluetooth and 5 plug-ins for car chargers, it has a "cool box" which will cool food and drink (it can hold a 6 pack) to 55 degrees. When I was shown the cool box, I exclaimed, "Oooh! Somewhere to put my beer when I take the twins to schoo!", at which point the salesman looked alarmed. Then, wanting to make the sale, with a nervous laugh, he agreed that it was perfect for drinking and driving children around. There's a little ring that pops out of the console where you can clip a trash bag, and seat belts that come from the ceiling, and a camera that helps one back the van up, but the best feature by far is the 15 cup holders. That's right, 15!!! One could drink 15 Diet Dr. Peppers without having to remember to throw away a single can or bottle. I was sold. Charlie agreed to the purchase as long as I agreed that he could buy a sensless, and expensive sports car once it was paid off. I said fine, thinking that the payoff is five years away. Statistically speaking, with twins in the mix, we should be divorced by then. On the off chance we are still together, I'm really hoping he'll have forgotten. On the way home from the dealership, Charlie said we should get a bumper sticker that said, "I sold out", I suggested one that said, "I left my dreams in my old car".
Since then, we have found that we love our minvan and we did't really didn't leave our dreams in our old car. What the minivan lacks in fun and style, it makes up for in comfort and convienince. It represents a part of our life that could be the most important and the most beautiful. Driving home from the grocery store last night, Charlie said to me, "You know, I don't know how we'll ever go back to a car."