Why I love my mini van {and don't understand why other people don't}

This is my mini van.
O.k. it isn't really my personal mini van, mine is WAY dirtier and I didn't want to bother with washing the car to take pictures of how awesome she is so you got this photo of someone selling one just like her. 
Sorry.  I suck.
Her name is Thelma.
She's a 2005 Honda Odyssey that has well over 100,000 miles on her.
I love her.

I named her Thelma because she sort of looks like a squaty old woman bending over to do her gardening.
Kind of like this
Picture - cutout lawn ornaments 
of rear ends of 
couple gardening. 
fotosearch - search 
stock photos, 
pictures, wall 
murals, images, 
and photo clipart
We bought Thelma new.  We drove her off the lot with only 17 miles on her.
We only had two kids when we purchased Thelma so when we were looking for a new car, my husband and I wondered if we should attempt to be cool and look into an SUV.
We test drove some, looked at a lot, and did a TON of research on them.
Nothing compared to a mini van for the practical needs of our family.
I love that at the touch of a button, the sliding doors open up.
I can have my hands full of groceries, carrying one kid on my hip and still open the door without dropping a single item!
Can your SUV do that?
Speaking of automatic sliding doors, when the kids were in car seats and I had to load them all in, the doors on my mini van are low enough that I don't have to stand on a running board or haul an infant car seat above my head to get it in place.  
When my daughter was in Kindergarten, she carpooled with a family of six to school.  They had an Expedition and had to load kids in through the back tailgate.  I loved that my kids could actually all get in to my van through the doors like normal people {not having to go through the "back door"} thankyouverymuch.
source
When we moved, our friends {also with an Odyssey} moved everything in our house in three loads between the two vans.  We cancelled the moving van that we had reserved the next day because we were as shocked  as anyone that we got every item in our house moved in mini vans!
Full size couch?  No problem!
And on my garage sale expeditions during the summer, everyone always piles into my van.
We rarely run out of room in my van when four of us are garage sale shopping.
And we buy a lot!
With car seat laws these days, you need room to haul kids and their friends and car seats.
When my kids were in pre-school, I would often times haul around five kids in car seats with no problem!
It's the ultimate friend mobile.
When my car was in the shop {it was hit by a drunk driver while parked at the airport parking lot when we were on vacation}, we all had to fit in my husbands Accord.  I didn't realize how nice it was to have all three kids separated in the back.  The two captains chairs in the front can be squished together when the little guys are feeling lovey dovey, or split apart so no one is touching anyone. 
And we all know that when "she's touching me" the car ride is no fun!
source
Some people just don't think mini vans are cool. 
It's like when they officially buy a mini van they have entered the uncool parents club or something.
Really? The small child hanging on your leg didn't just drag you in to that club already?
Maybe these parents in their swagger wagon will help sum up the mini van love and bring some cool.

I've never worried about not having room for a stroller or loading in four bikes for a family bike ride or luggage for a trip or fitting in a full size couch in my van.
I can fit them all!
My mini van is a great family car.
I have a family.
It's practical for our family.
I'm sure that when Thelma needs replaced, even though our kids are getting older, she will be replaced with another mini van.  I will always find a reason for needing the extra space! 
So are you anti mini van?
Or do you love your mom mobile as much as I do?
Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to shopping for some mom jeans.

10 comments

Starr said...

We bought a 2005 Odyssey when we decided to have a third child. We were going to have three rear-facing car seats, and the three-row SUVs were either very cramped or way too big. My ego has never been wrapped around my choice of vehicle, so I don't get the mental block either. But some people think their cars make them awesome-er. I already know I'm awesome! Ride on with your bad self!

Debbie said...

I love the video. We have small cars, I own a KIA and prior to that I had a ford wagon.

My husband also has a KIA. our kids are older, but they may inherit my car when the time comes. I can't afford the gas on a bigger vehicle. How much does the SUV get for gallon of gas?? I can fill my KIA for 45 dollars and get 400 miles prior to another fill up.

Artsy VaVa said...

I love my minivan too! Even though my kids are off at college, I can never see myself driving anything else. For a DIYer it's great. I can fold all the seats down into the floor and fill it up with furniture! Or junk! Ooh, the seats are down now...maybe I should go junkin' today!

Craftcherry said...

I always thought we would get an SUV when we were ready for a bigger car...Not sure WHY I was so adverse to a minivan. But we rented one for a family vacation a couple years ago and I fell in love. Can't wait till we are ready to get rid of my husbands truck so I can upgrade from my PT Cruiser. I love her, but MAN...way to small for kids with long legs.

Dara @ Not In Jersey said...

haha. I have an odyssey too. it is a lease that we are giving back in a few weeks so our new van is a town and country.

Unknown said...

Apparently I lied. Thelma is a 2004 Honda. Even girl mini vans don't like to confess their real age on the internet!

Unknown said...

And someone asked about gas mileage. Around town where we do most of our driving I get 20 mpg. Will have to verify with my hubby and get back to you and make sure I did my math right!

Unknown said...

Haha! I love this post. I have a 2003 Honda odyssey and I wouldn't trade it for anything, well except maybe a newer Odyseey. LOL. Ppl just don't get why I love it so much, but it is by far my favorite vehicle that I've ever driven. I had a 2000 model before this one and I literally cried when it was wrecked and deemed beyond repair. My husband thought I was crying because I felt guilty for wrecking it even though it was not my fault. I told him no I was crying because I loved that van and it felt like a member of the family. So for a year I drove a piece of crap Ford windstar until I was finally able to find another Odyssey!

christie said...

I have a 2005 Chrysler Town and country limited, I just got my drivers license late in life. I am 38 and only had about 10 hours of behind the wheel training before I got my minivan. I drove few different cars, and the legroom was very bad. Then I had a friend's mother give me a few lessons in her minivan. 2 hours of driving in the van was better than the car.
I am going to school to be a teacher and might be doing some nanny work in a year so, or opening my own daycare and so I will be driving kids around. With the van, I have plenty of room for transporting children.
I like that I can transport large things, fold my seats into the floor of the, my roof rack is amazing, plus I got a great DVD with two wireless headphones and a remote.
I also like that if I go camping, I can use it for my tent. I would rather fold down seats and lay down in my van instead of the ground. I feel the van would be safer.

christie said...

And I love my van. It's a big black beast, but it's mine.

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