DH wants a minivan...

[Anonymous]

And I'm so not ready for it!

I've driven them a lot while babysitting and I HATE them. Please help me...

We're expecting #2 and I drive a small SUV. I love it! I'm very short and being up there makes me feel safer and drive better. The thing is 4WD and holds pretty well in snow, sand, debris, etc. And it's compact. I can see all around it when parking.

The minivan we can afford won't have a camera so parking will be a mess. DH is concerned about space (we drive friends a lot, another carsear plus a double stroller) but I don't think this is enough reason to get a van. We're doing well with this car and I see no reason why we would need anything bigger. Am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

I hate minivans too. My kids are 8 and 10 and we've stuck to our small SUV. That's all you need.

[Anonymous]

VBA!

[Anonymous]

Can't help you, driving a minivan is awesome. The sliding doors alone are worth it. I love being able to get in with the kids, shut the sliding door, and get them into their seats in bad weather.

Oh, and I'm short too. I feel perfectly safe in a minivan. It's really no different from driving a sedan, except it has so many more convenient features.

[Anonymous]

DON'T.DO.IT!!!

Don't get pressured into it if you don't feel comfortable or don't like them. I still drive a sedan with 2 kids and we've survived just fine. I love my car and have no intentions of ever getting a minivan.

[Anonymous]

Can you fit the friends another carseat and the double stroller in your current car?

If the answer is yes, then you don't need a minivan.

If the answer is no, then get another car. What else are you going to do, stop having kids or not drive friends anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Minivan is totally practical. I wish I'd gotten one years earlier.

If you're just opposed out of some vain sense that you're too cool for a minivan, then you should get over yourself and grow up. If you've got some practical reason why it won't work, then you can try selling that to your DH (but know that the reasons in your OP don't really seem very persuasive). If you truly will hate every minute of it, and won't ever drive the thing, out of some irrational aversion, then I guess you need to admit to your husband that you have an irrational aversion, and try to find some alternative.

[Anonymous]

Tell your DH to get the minivan.

Why does the woman always have to get the horrific car.

I drive a Jeep Wrangler (four door). Kids love it, it's safe...and I don't feel like an old soccer mom either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Minivan is totally practical. I wish I'd gotten one years earlier.

If you're just opposed out of some vain sense that you're too cool for a minivan, then you should get over yourself and grow up. If you've got some practical reason why it won't work, then you can try selling that to your DH (but know that the reasons in your OP don't really seem very persuasive). If you truly will hate every minute of it, and won't ever drive the thing, out of some irrational aversion, then I guess you need to admit to your husband that you have an irrational aversion, and try to find some alternative.

Just because you feel a minivan is practical doesn't mean the OP or anyone else has to drive one! She's not vain, immature, or have an irrational aversion just because she doesn't want to drive a minivan.

I hate them as well for many reasons, one being the look of the car, so I don't drive one. My SIL angrily said to me several years ago, "you'll be driving one soon enough as well. Once that 2nd baby is born." Guess what? NO MINIVAN in my driveway yet and #2 is 3 yo!! It's a personal choice and if the OP doesn't like driving them, no matter what the reason, then she shouldn't have to drive one.

You sound bitter because you were told they are practical and you must have one as a mommy! Just because you follow the herd doesn't mean OP has to.

[Anonymous]

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my minivan. I can open and close doors without touching them. I can climb in the back with everyone and get them set in their carseats and not have to get back out. I can take 4 extra ppl along and not have to worry about someone being smooshed between 2 carseats. The trunk space is so nice to have (fits strollers, bags, first aid kit, backpack with cloth changes etc... Oh, and I'm only 5'2" and I fit just fine and do not feel like I'm swallowed up by the car. Mine is 7 this February. I won't be going back to an SUV or sedan any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Minivan is totally practical. I wish I'd gotten one years earlier.

If you're just opposed out of some vain sense that you're too cool for a minivan, then you should get over yourself and grow up. If you've got some practical reason why it won't work, then you can try selling that to your DH (but know that the reasons in your OP don't really seem very persuasive). If you truly will hate every minute of it, and won't ever drive the thing, out of some irrational aversion, then I guess you need to admit to your husband that you have an irrational aversion, and try to find some alternative.

Just because you feel a minivan is practical doesn't mean the OP or anyone else has to drive one! She's not vain, immature, or have an irrational aversion just because she doesn't want to drive a minivan.

I hate them as well for many reasons, one being the look of the car, so I don't drive one. My SIL angrily said to me several years ago, "you'll be driving one soon enough as well. Once that 2nd baby is born." Guess what? NO MINIVAN in my driveway yet and #2 is 3 yo!! It's a personal choice and if the OP doesn't like driving them, no matter what the reason, then she shouldn't have to drive one.

You sound bitter because you were told they are practical and you must have one as a mommy! Just because you follow the herd doesn't mean OP has to.

Grown-ass people who are scared of minivans for aesthetic reasons are pretty sad. "Minivan uncool! SUV? Cool!" It's like the bloated, wrinkly Baby Boomer who wears tight jeans and can decide whether the Grateful Dead or Janis Joplin is coolest. Most successful, educated people under 40 think that cars are a tool--a necessary evil. The idea that it's some sort of signaling device to tell the world how special and unconventional you are is a pathetic remnant of a by-gone age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell your DH to get the minivan.

Why does the woman always have to get the horrific car.

I drive a Jeep Wrangler (four door). Kids love it, it's safe...and I don't feel like an old soccer mom either.

But do you feel like your car is about to roll over? A Jeep Wrangler would not top most people's list of safe cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just because you feel a minivan is practical doesn't mean the OP or anyone else has to drive one! She's not vain, immature, or have an irrational aversion just because she doesn't want to drive a minivan.

I hate them as well for many reasons, one being the look of the car, so I don't drive one. My SIL angrily said to me several years ago, "you'll be driving one soon enough as well. Once that 2nd baby is born." Guess what? NO MINIVAN in my driveway yet and #2 is 3 yo!! It's a personal choice and if the OP doesn't like driving them, no matter what the reason, then she shouldn't have to drive one.

You sound bitter because you were told they are practical and you must have one as a mommy! Just because you follow the herd doesn't mean OP has to.

Sounds like you might have some irrational aversion issues of your own. Your primary reasons seem to be "the look of the car" and a need to prove your SIL wrong.

I'm not bitter at all; the 2nd sentence of my post was saying I wish I'd gotten one years earlier. And by the way, I'm a daddy ... and also the primary driver of our minivan.

Good luck to OP. If you haven't driven one since your babysitting years, maybe you should try renting a current model for a few days, or else borrow a friend's. Most minivans sit on regular car frames now, and thus drive just like regular cars. The main differences are cosmetic ones.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you might have some irrational aversion issues of your own. Your primary reasons seem to be "the look of the car" and a need to prove your SIL wrong.

You beat me to it. PP sounds like Dave Chappelle's Rick James sketch. "Not everyone has a childish irrational reason to eschew mini-vans. I hate them because they're gay-looking and make me feel old!"

[Anonymous]

seriously. if you dh wants a minivan, let him get one. i would never get it just because someone else wanted me to get it. love my suv.