Good Bye Mini Van, Hello Little Car

Well, it happened as if by magic. Our new car finally arrived.

We talked for months about trading in the van. Every time the conversation began, Birk cried with fits of tears. She loved the van, couldn't we save it for when she learned how to drive?

I didn't have the heart to tell her that there was no way that she would want to be driving this van around in 8 years. That is one of the things that parents just know and kids have to learn.

Her main reason to keep the van? You could eat In and Out in the van and fold down the seats for a private restaurant. For some reason, after all of the cool experiences I've provided for my children, they remember eating in the mini van as a highlight.

We are now squishing into the little car. It is zippy and cute, but it can't hold a candle to a Costco run with the mini van.

Ahhhhh, a chapter has ended. I, as a mom, provide hope to younger moms that they, too, "will someday get rid of the van." At least, this is what they tell me.

Now, every morning, I inhale the yummy new car scent and every morning, my kids complain that their car smells like a rental car.

Who doesn't love the smell of off-gassing? The younger generation, go figure!

My Husband's Sneaking Around

We live in an enlightened little part of the world...some of the enlightenment is influenced by guilt.

Picture in your mind a sophisticated cocktail party: dim lights, candles, and beautiful, modern floral arrangements punctuating the landscape. Martini glasses dangle from bejeweled fingertips (both male and female) and the women's heels are expensive and high.

Skirts are short. Botox runs rampant across the faces of the thirty something plus crowd. Men wear jeans and shirts with faux holes that each sport price tags of $200.00 and up. The conversation? How to be more "ECO."

As a gas guzzling, carbon footprint the size of Big Foot, family of five, my husband and I asked ourselves, "Do we really need a 10 year old V8 Jeep AND a mini van?" After several conversations with the green enlightened, we decided to get off our duffs and adopt more eco-friendly transportation.

My husband is now the proud (?) owner of a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. It is sleek and shiny AND AS SILENT AS A STALKING PANTHER.

In the old days, I could hear him coming home from work three blocks away. The V8 would roar like a lion throughout our suburban neighborhood. I also could hear him in the morning, pulling out of the driveway sounding like a full drag race was on--though he was only just turning the key in the ignition.

Now, I have no idea where he is. I take the garbage out, BOOM, there he is finishing a conference call in the driveway. I slam the van in reverse, hit the gas to get the kids to school on time, and BOOM, his car is behind me. Turns out his morning meeting was at the coffee shop.

He is sneaking around in that shiny, black hybrid. In the old days, I could hear him coming up the street, so I could quickly get off Zappos.com and look like I was dusting furniture and making dinner. Now he opens the door and I jump ten feet off my computer chair. The full evidence spread on the screen before me of unbridled, online shopping.

I am getting jumpy. Those hybrids are stealth and it's freaking me out.