We're LATCH Compatible
May 22, 2008
So, we've shared a lot this week -- we've loved, laughed, learned! -- and I think we've all made some excellent progress towards Better & Fulfilled Marriages, most specifically in the areas of trust, vulnerability, communication and compromise, but I would just like to say that sometimes it is still all about the winning.
While Jason's suggestion of going a few months without a car payment was indeed fiscally responsible, and while I have no doubt that his offer to "work from home anytime [I] needed the car" was both sincere and well-intentioned, I calmly and rationally and lovingly explained that if I had to clear AND justify every single vehicular-based movement with him for so much as a goddamn week, I would stab him in the ears with a fork while he slept.
Sorry, I cannot blog today. I am far too busy thinking of places I can drive my hot new sensible momcar to. Look out world, it fits TWO carseats and features rugged all-weather mats for maximum stray-Cheerio collection. Wicked sweet, dude. Perhaps I shall go challenge some area minivans to a street race.
I want a mini-van so badly.
Is it a Hyundai!?? I can't tell.
Okay, maybe there's a hint in this post somewhere, but I'm not registering it. What kind of car is it?!!! Because I'm one of those loser moms with a minivan (that we're commuting in right now, even though it costs a hundred bucks to fill it with the current gas prices...gah!) and I'm looking for something prettier and more fuel efficient.
(my husband would be able to tell what it was just by the front grill and logo in the picture...but that's due to his maleness)
Hey - that's the same responsible mom car I bought when my little guy was en route (Subaru wagon from the looks of it)
Woo Hoo! Did you get a Lesburu? :-P
Amen.
Squeeeee for new cars!!!!
{I just got a Smart Car Convertible, it'll barely hold an extra soda but I do love it so}.
Yay! I've been gunning for a new mom-car ever since the driver's side door of my Neon stopped opening and something started going wrong with the clutch. Now I have even more ammo!
I had a subaru outback in college, and just got rid of it about two years ago. I loved it. I could fit everything I owned in there, and could parallel park on a snow drift. Awesome.
It wasn't until I sold it (close to ten years old and over 200,000 miles on it, and very very few problems. I think I took it to the mechanic twice) that someone told me that was a "lesbian" car. But I could care less. When I get knocked up, I'm totally getting another one.
You will love it. I LOVE!!!!!!!!!! my suburu legacy. It's the most awesomest car ever.
A MINIVAN.
I can hardly stand it. It's awesome.
I finally traded up my 16yo Accord in Jan. Allllmoossssst went with the Subaru wagon, but decided on the Mazda 5 instead. Not as cool, but cheaper and has better gas mileage. Being responsible sucks sometimes.
we're a two subaru family and love them both mucho. i hope you enjoy the many hot mom miles you put on that bad boy!
Ahh yes -- the main 'takeaway point' I saw in your last (very thoguhtful and insightful) entry was "holy crap, she might have to live without a car." The seemingly unending rain makes that prospect unbearable.
Yeah, you wouldn't have wanted to come up with euphemisms for "I want to go to Target today (again)"...thank GOD you have your own (sweet) ride.
A Subaru will probably be my next car too. Everyone in Maine has a Subaru, Volvo, pickup, or a combination of the three. We have a truck and 3 Volvos (1980, 92, and 97) and I want a Subaru!
I thought everyone knew car logos--I'm surprised at the number of people here who don't. Maybe I'm just weird.
Good for you! Perhaps, you can encourage Noah to throw stuff at their windshields to divert them.
Oh, man, I am so jealous. A lot of the unevenness in my household comes from the fact that we only have one vehicle, and... well, the whole thing about having to clear every single vehicular excursion? That was totally spot-on. Nice job communicating your needs, and hey -- nice car!
I <3 new car smell! Congrats!!!
I have always said I would NEVER drive a mini-van.....then I had three children in five years. Purchasing a minivan changed my life! The automatic doors are my best friend!
Enjoy!
Oh. Uh. It's not a minivan (those would fit like, quite a few more carseats?). It's a Subaru Forester (we loooove the Subarus around here). Sorry for the confusion.
my house, you can drive to my house!
Hell yes to the Forester owning! They're great cars, the turning radius is fantastic (what's a coin smaller than a dime? whatever it is, that car will be able to turn on it!), and they're supposed to last 80 kabillion miles before they poop out. Hope you like yours like I like mine. And good lord, do you deserve having your own vehicle...oh yes.
Remember that "Return to Witch Mountain" Disney movie elementary school kids got to watch the last week of school?
I've just now realized the Subaru emblem is the exact constellation those kids had on their lunchbox purses. The purse that showed them how to Escape! To Witch Mountain!
Damn you, internet, that there is not a photo link to prove this.
Anyway, congrats on the car!
Subarus are awesome- congratulations!
Am I the only one who is completely distracted by the giant moose at the top of the page?
One of the most embarrassing moments of recent life was when I honked at some hot half-naked college guys and then remembered that I was driving a minivan with a kid in the backseat. Jeez. Enjoy your new phat mom-ride!
pretty shiny car. congrats! (esp since it's NOT a minivan. sorry I have minivan bias...)
wow, I am SO JEALOUS. Because we have two cars and one is paid off and the other ... is not. And until second car is paid off, NO new momcar for me, boo hoo.
On a completely separate note, I wanted to talk to you about speech therapy issues and don't have an email for you? Could you email me, please? I promise not to be a stalker (too much).
I love my subaru with a hot burning passion. (wow...is that weird?) Have fun showing off the mom-mobile.
This is why I cannot understand why my sister in law CHOSE not to get a drivers license. I do not understand for 1 second how she can rely on other people for every single errand she needs to make or trip she needs to take. People have to go with her to get her haircut, or prescription filled, or ANYTHING. The thought drives me crazy.
Oh, Lord, I just signed the papers on my own new Momvehicle. A minivan. What? I have one kid, another on the way, and two nephews who ride everywhere with me. And it has navigation for when I get lost on the way to work (not that I've ever done that or anything) and DVD players and way more stuff in it than I deserve. But I have to drive it until every kid goes to colelge and the wheels fall off.
Love love LOVE a Subaru. The b/f has had one for three years and still says 'good looking car, eh' (we're Cdn) every time we approach the thing in the parking lot. It's fiesty and fun to drive b/c they don't look like they should be that fast.
Sweet emblem...is it a crossover...I'm so in love with crossovers right now! Of course, it will be awhile before I get one, but I think they're great - mainly because they're not a minivan!
Inside pictures, please!
Welcome to the club mama! LOL We got a Dodge Caravan WITH DVD PLAYER YO!!! Best.thing.ever.
Subarus are the PERFECT alternative to mini-vans! I'm guessing it is one of the new 2009 Foresters (awesome room in the back!) but maybe you got a Tribeca? They are the ultimate not-a-mini-van but still a mom-car! I hope you like yours as much as I love mine :)
I am dying for a new car - lucky you!
Have fun! And thanks for giving me MORE ammo to approach my husband with: "...but AMY got a Forester, and SHE loves it"
ohh fancy! have fun in that baby!
I'm in the blue Dodge Grand Caravan. Bring it on!
I've got a toyota minivan myself, which I love, but BigDaddyFish has a Subaru Outback wagon - stick shift. Hot ass zippy little car and I fight him to drive it. It rocks.
Congrats on yours. May it be as trouble free (5 years and 100K DC miles) as ours has been.
congrats on the new wheels. I love the new sensible momcars that aren't vans and am really considering down/upgrading to one from my MVP minivan, which I adore.
I love my Subaru - it may not look sexy but it is fast and fun to drive. It will serve you well.
Snaps to you for keeping the mystery alive as to whether you actually in fact have children or you just enjoy kayak expeditions every weekend when you aren't at bike festivals and cliff diving club meetings. You just can't be mysterious in a minivan. All minivans should come standard with one of those corny little road sign shaped window decals that say Baby On Board. You know, the ones that all brand new parents deem to be top ten worthy on the must-have list. Subarus are snazzy and sporty! Great pick.
omg. you were so me. i was pregnant and the mom of a toddler. we went for the subaru outback. i loved that thing all silver and sporty. we so totally outgrew it the moment two carseats, two babies, one dog and all the gear went inside. my baby is almost two and we just upgraded to a four door tacoma. hope the forester is bigger. not trying to burst the new car bubble or anything.
How did I go to an all women's college and drive Subarus for the last 22 years and not realize they were perceived as a "lesbian" car? Duh? Where have I been? All the lesbians I know drive mini-pickups.
Our 2000 Forester is about to hit 100,000 and the only thing we have ever done to it is change the oil and headlight bulbs. LOVE!
I've got an Outback - Subaru's are awesome! I LOVE my car! I will be so sad when my boyfriend and I move in together and have a combined total of like half a ball team and I'll be forced to get a minivan. Enjoy it!
Ah, I loved my Forester! I sold it to my sister about a month after the twins arrived, however... with two carseats in back, there was just not enough legroom for DH to drive comfortably. Hopefully that won't be an issue for Jason. Sure, both infant seats & bases fit fine -- but the driver/passenger room gets tight.
So, we bought a used minivan. I love it too, but I love my Forester more. This will work for now -- someday I'll go back to a Subie!
Have fun -- they're solid and reliable and fun.
Fiscal responsibility is nice, but winning is awesome!
I'm guessing Subaru Forester...
Dude, I so get you on this. I'm a stay at home mom of two. I was in a rollover car accident with both my kids, a two year old and 10 month old at the time and the car was totaled. Thank God for Britax, both the kids were fine and I was only slightly bruised. But both our cars are leased through my husband's work so they were giving him the run around about replacing the totaled vehicle. I was at home without a car for a month when I lost it. It was March and cold and we couldn't go outside and the kids were going insane. I told him he had to get on the phone and get me a car or well, something similar to ear stabbing would occur. Two days later they magically found a car for him. He thought it was easy cause he HAD to have the car for work and I just needed it to get out during the day for "fun". Good for you for standing up for what you need. And a pretty, shiny new car always makes things better.
Welcome to Forester club, it really is a great car. I come to the commenting party late, but can tell you that the car survived a major accident like a champ with narry a scratch on the four of us inside, fits two adults and two car seats just fine. It's also great for picking up chicks, natch.
OH! A Subaru Forester! That's our next car! I can't wait to hear about it.
amalah- i apologize this comment is a bit off topic, but oh well. i just caught up on your blog after not reading for a few weeks. i had surgery on my feet & my dear sweet parked car was totaled. Thanks to the painkillers i was on everything was a pretty blurr for the past few weeks. But enough about me, I wanted to tell you that i am always amazed how much grace & humor you have under stressful situations. catching up on the blog tonight, reminded me that life right now for me isn't great (getting myself to the bathroom is a chore), but there is always humor and lessons to learn from these hard times. thank you for sharing your life both the ups and downs with myself & the internet.
Oh yeah, the new car is sweet.
Yay for you! I would love to have a subaru someday. I remember riding the back of my parents' Brat 25 years ago. I'm so with you on the car thing. I've had my own car since I was 15 and I would go nuts without one.
I am so happy that I bought my RAV4 back in (sadly, pre-LATCH) 2001. It's been paid off for years, it can haul my three big-ass steel drums around to gigs, and now it will function as a Mom Car!
Yay for the Subaru and all mini-SUV's, with their space and their decent gas mileage!
And yes, I'm a lesbian and we call them Lesbarus - Subaru is a nicely pro-gay company - but we don't make a call until we see what kind of pants you are wearing :-)
All this talk about loving cars reminded me of this..
http://www.closeronline.co.uk/RealLife/Reallifestories/sex-with-car.aspx?dateonline=Monday+19+May+2008
You Americans are weird.. ;-)
I have a 'dad car' (Peugeot 307) which I detest, but it has a lot of space...for 'me time' I ride a classic Vespa - no hope of junior getting anywhere near that for the next 18 years....
yay for you! I agree with you on the fork/stabbing thing. Jason should thank this car for his safety.
Woohoo! I just got a new Honda minivan the other day. I'm going to be babysitting my three nephews a lot this summer, and I need to be able to haul them around as well as my two sons. So, big mom car for me.
Power sliding doors rock. Big time.
Maybe I'll come up to D.C., and we can drag!
Girl, I want to echo the "i want a mini-van so badly" sentiment. Because I DO.
BUT, I'm actually commenting on the last post, since I didnt' get to read it until comments were closed.
I'm the working parent. My husband is the stay-at-home parent. And I'll let you know, it is HARD FROM THIS END, too. The mom-guilt is horrible. How can I be at work while my baby is busy growing up? I can't leave my job, how would we live? If I have a bad day at work, I'm afraid for the very core of our lives. We barely make it as is, what if I lost my job? I miss my girl SO MUCH by the end of the day, it hurts to my very core. My husband is a WONDERFUL daddy, and my daughter is well cared for and loved. But, sometimes, when I get home and the laundry hasn't been touched from when I was doing it yesterday, the kitchen is a mess from last night's dishes the I didnt' get to, the dog needs to go out, the beds aren't even close to made, the bathrooms haven't been cleaned since I did them weeks ago, I get so frustrated. I know if roles were reversed, I would be very angry at my husband if he got frustrated at me for those things, but I can't help but think (no, I can't help but KNOW) that those things would be done if I were the one at home. At least most days. How am I the work away from home AND the work at home parent?
Okay, that got off topic and is actually another post, but I really loved what you wrote. Mariage is a constant decision--to love, fight for, and value your partner. Thanks for that reminder.
I'm so disjointed, but I also wanted to say thank you for the reminder of the stay at home parent's point of view. I know it is hard for my husband--he gave up his work simply because he made less and I carried the benefits. By default, he stays home. It is hard for him, and he's doing a great job where it matters. My daughter. The apple of our eyes. She's healthy, she's happy, she's fed, she's played with, she's loved, and she's raised by her parents. That's all the matters.
wow. thanks for the oppotunity to let all of that out. :)
I really love your blog.
Dear Jason - sorry about the car payment, man. Amy - enjoy the new car!! I'll forgive you for not buying a Honda.......
Nice Forester (new badging and grill)! Congrats!
Congrats on your new Wheelz!
I LOVE my Outback. I would live in that car! (Even though she recently cost me around $900 for service and belt replacement.) I would GLADLY pay it all over again. Cause I love her so much!
a subee! Great cars. Congrats. The first new heavy rain you drive that baby in and see her hugging the road all nicely is going to make you want to hug that steering wheel!
Oh, you got another car!
I thought you could juggle the car demands by driving him to work and driving the car back, then fetching him later ... or is that too much? Sorry, that's how we run the things here :)
I am getting rid of the minivan in approximately 38 days, two hours, and thirty seven seconds, give or take a second or two.
The world of hot mom car possibility lays in front of me. Honda CRV? Subaru Forrester? Dare I dream of a Chrysler 300C?
I was going to post on your last entry about how I feel isolated in my house as well. We only have one car as well and I get stuck in the house all day with the kids. I'm so jealous!
A Forester was my second choice as a mom car; my first choice, well, I could not believe it was as practical as my notes would have it. I bought a chromed-up red PT Cruiser three years ago and I believe that was the last time in my life I had the giddy feeling of getting away with something. It's been totally wonderful, too. (This is with one kid, but a very large Britax-Marathon-requiring model.)
We have the Subaru Outback Impreza Sport (What a mouthful) I had a Honda Civic and then had my baby girl, got a Britax Marathon for her and the Civic is NOT LATCH compatible, plus the thing is too big for the Civic. The Soobie was my husband's "baby", but I secretly coveted it and wante it for my own. Thus, I stole it from him in the name of safety for the little one, but it feels like Mommy got her new "momcar" as well and we didn't have to pay anything. he did mention when the Honda dies, not getting another car. I'll be sure to use this post as refernce to why that WILL NOT WORK!
Oh Yay! We LOOOOVVVE winning!
Nice car too. Our first car after the fist kid was born was a Subaru Legacy Wagon. We drove it into the GROUND!
I just realized that you wanted to go out for lunch just so you could drive the Subaru. It's true, isn't it??
Also my official opinion on your car is that I would like to make out with it and/or live in it. Hot damn, I love that car.
Lucky gal.
boofyq -- when you go back to Subies, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much bigger the interior of the 2009 Foresters are compared to the old models. Noah can stretch out even when the front seats are really far back. (That was our big problem with our Impreza -- Noah had to put his ankles on either side of the seat headrest to stretch out.)
Jasmine -- oh dear God. That would mean close to FOUR HOURS in the car everyday and half of Jason's salary into the gas tank. Commuting in the DC area is...interesting, and I do not miss it.
Heather B -- but wasn't it WORTH IT to go joyriding through suburban parking garages?