Because I am a PRACTICAL mother of three…

I have not always been practical. Stages of my life have been very unpractical. But now I am in my 30’s and a mother of three. Practicality has set in leading me to more and more conservative decisions in all aspects of my life. The same can be said for my husband.

Yes we are conservatives, raised by conservative parents. But we certainly had fun in our 20’s and neither of us were overly conservative and certainly not always practical. That was then and this is now.

Two years ago Nathan’s first practical car buying decision was made when we moved to the prairie. We did not buy out his company vehicle which we could have for a very reasonable price. It was my favorite to drive. A black Volvo XC90. A sporty, trendy and safe SUV but did not get great gas mileage and was not very good on ice even though it was all wheel drive. I still mourn the loss of it but Nathan said we need to buy something American made since we would be living in a rural area. Yes I knew that was true, remembering my grandpa’s comment that first time I ever drove a Japanese made vehicle into his farm yard. In rural America, American made matters more than anywhere else.

Then we traded in Nathan’s gas guzzler Chevy Avalanche pick up for a more conservative American made car for all my driving needs and Nathan drove an American made lumber yard pick up with his favorite Duramax Diesel (that evidently MATTERS to pick up driving men) engine in it. So in my life I had gone from a Mitsubishi boxy SUV to a Mazda car to a Honda Accord which I drove 150,000 miles on to a Volvo to a MERCURY brand car. But it turned out to be a great car for us the past two years. Plus it was American made, bought locally and saved us a lot of money on gas. After Anika arrived a month ago, this was our children crammed in the back seat of our conservative car. A happy but crowded crew.

Our 5’8″ going into sixth grade son was not going to fit much longer into the car plus our toddler Busy Bits needed space so she would not poke her baby sister. And we needed cargo space for luggage, sports equipment, baby items because other than driving to church together on Sunday mornings any of our road trips together as a family are almost always a minimum of 90 to 180 miles one way.

Nathan set into deep research which I blogged about earlier this month. There was a lot of research, a lot of determining, analyzing and discussion. I did not want a Chevy Suburban. I would consider a Ford Expedition because the third row seat has room for Hunter in it and the second row has room for two car seats. But I drive alone often for work and put on 20,000 miles or more a year onto a vehicle. The Expedition at times will average 12 miles per gallon of gas. That fact punched me in the stomach after my car had been getting 26-30 mpg consistently. A more conservative vehicle with better gas mileage was needed I decided.

Since I hate mini vans I would not consider that option. My dad had been trying to sell me on mini vans since the 80’s. I had heard a thousand times “it is the most conservative people mover on the market, Katie”. Yes I know I know I know but it is not cute and not cool enough for me. After the tan van with the classic 80’s wood paneling on the side which I crashed, the gray van, the black cherry van and the white van of my dad’s I had seen enough vans. His white van has 230,000 miles on it. I have mocked it for so many years that we have standing family jokes about it. But we as big family have traveled across the country and back again with everything stowed away in the van. It held us and our stuff. And the van was the most conservative choice for my dad but not me.

And so my selling father to help us in our vehicle search and buying effort brought home all the Honda literature to us when we arrived at the farm last week. A Honda Pilot, more leg room in the third row seat in their new models, better gas mileage, an attractive option. Like driving my mom’s Honda Ridgeline with out the box and instead another seat. I liked it. In his true marketing and selling fashion, my dad snuck in the Honda mini van literature too and proceeded to sell my husband on why we did not need a four wheel option on the van, why 99% of the time front wheel drive would be all I needed and when I need four wheel drive I could drive Nathan’s pick up to the airport, why the Honda van is the best van on the market which the literature showed. You see where this was going. Fred sold Nathan enough that Nathan said I should go and test drive a Honda Pilot and a Honda Odyssey van with my dad. This came from my husband who has bought nothing but Chevy trucks for himself his entire life. It was a bold statement.

And so it was.

Last Wednesday, I went with my father to my hometown dealership. The familiar place where when we used to buy vehicles together my dad would make me drive to the public library to show him in the Consumer Reports books where the car I wanted was rated and ranked in order to convince him a Mazda or Honda was the best option for me. This time I did not have to do that. We already knew that a Honda would be a better option for me because of the gas mileage. But I was not convinced in any way that it would be an Odyssey van. I merely was appeasing my father by test driving the van. I decided I wanted to buy the Honda Pilot SUV. More practical than the Ford Expedition because of both the cost and gas mileage. Plus it was sporty and fun.

Yes driving the Honda Pilot was a dream. It was not the Audi I have wanted to drive for the past decade but I loved it. However there was trouble in my paradise. The third row seat had little to no knee room for Hunter compared to the Odyssey van and how could we get him in the third row seat with two car seats already strapped into the second row? The Honda Pilot would be next to impossible for family road trips for Hunter. Most practical for Hunter, for family road trips was the van. AHH. Plus there was enough room to have a friend or two back there with him and the seats folded flat into the floor which is most practical for me when I am loading up on diaper supplies 90 miles from home.
And the trunk storage was laughable in the Pilot compared to the Odyssey van. Most practical for a family of five with a lot of luggage on family road trips was again…the van.

And both sliding doors and the hatch on the Odyssey van open and close with the touch of a button. Practical for moms and dads, practical for kids, practical for families with two kids in car seats and a big boy in the third row.

Not that flashy, not that cool. Still a mini van but practical.
After the test drives, my dad looked at me, with a smirk on his face and sparkle in his eye and said, “Poor Katie.” He knew. I knew. I called Nathan. Time to buy the van. Great gas mileage. Great people mover. Great storage. Practical. Practical. Practical. And as we left the dealership my dad and I laughed together as we got into his old white van with worn tan leather interior to drive home. I have always been like my dad which drove me (and him) nuts as our strong personalities would clash for many years. But now we are at peace with it and great father/ daughter friends and colleagues. The van I had decided on…was the only one on the lot. A white van with tan leather interior.
Nathan asked “Are you going to be content with this vehicle?” My answer was “No, it’s a van. I hate mini vans, remember?” He laughed. We agreed. The Odyssey van it was. Best for our family. He called our local dealership and worked out a deal between dealerships and took care of all the details. By Saturday, we were home with our new van.

My husband says we cannot call it “the van”. It is the Odyssey. Sounds more adventurous, exciting and flashy. Less practical.