My Minivan Man

You know someone REALLY loves you when they are willing to do something that they hate just because it is important to you.

In my world, that would be the purchase of the minivan. About a month ago we bought a used Honda Odyssey minivan in the exotic color of gold/tan. I LOVE my van. It is comfortable, it is easy to travel in with all of Danika's stuff, and my parents and sister can fit in it with us when we are together. It gets decent gas mileage and did I mention I love it??!? It is so practical and made so much sense for our family.But, let's just say Doug was less than eager to become the proud new owner of a minivan. To be honest...he was beyond freaked out. He wanted no part of owning a minivan. I believe multiple conversations included the words "over my dead body"....But, I really wanted it. And I am the one who would drive it every day. And I convinced him how much sense it made and how much better it would be for us than the little tiny '96 Accord we were driving...and I may have threatened that if he didn't get a minivan, I would take over driving when we are together and make him sit in the passenger seat with his knees against the dash for hours at a time because the car seat was too big for the backseat. So...because he loves me (and because the threats were scaring him)...we bought a minivan.

The "mommy-mobile" is what we call it here. Our first week with it, Doug had to take Danika to the grocery store with him...he came home and looked depressed. I asked what was up..."I was done shopping and had Danika strapped into her carseat and I was loading the groceries...and I realized what I looked like. I was just another typical looking Dad with the family minivan at the grocery store. It was kind of depressing."


I told him he would survive. :) But in all seriousness...it's things like this that remind me how much I love this man. Every day, from the little things to the big things, he makes me laugh and he reminds me just how lucky I am. After a few weeks of rolling his eyes, and adjusting to the lack of coolness that now surrounds his life...Doug/my husband/Danika's Dad/owner of the minivan has adjusted to the new mode of transportation we are now seen in on a daily basis. The first trip home to my parents house in Ohio as well as our first vacation trip sealed the deal as the van proved to be more than worth the lack of coolness for the ability to fit all our crap in our vehicle and still be able to move.


Fortunately, Doug doesn't have a facebook account, so I can ramble about him as much as I want...odds are he won't ever read this. But, if you see him in the the Gold Mommy-Mobile sometime around Erie, before you taunt him for how "cool" he looks, remember...he is driving it because he loves his wife. :)