(Mommy Friends: please send your Mommy friends here to give their opinions. Being new at this "thinking like a Mommy" thing, I'll take all the help I can get)
Talk to me about cars.
My lease on my beloved Chrysler 300 is ending in 6 months. Just a month after Spawn is due to arrive. (I guess I should explain that the unborn child I am carrying is affectionately referred to as Spawn by Matt and I). So I ask you, what type of vehicle do I want? Better yet, what type of vehicle do I need? A car? An SUV/Minivan?Keep in mind:
1) my Father sells Jeeps, Chryslers, Dodges and Kias at his dealership and I have my pick (after he weeds out the models he deems unworthy for his daughter & grandchild)
2) Matt drives a (leased) Jeep Grand Cherokee that we will be returning in about 2 years for something new and sparkly - and bigger if needed.
3) Matt will be a SAHF (stay at home Father) and we planned that the car seat will be permanently housed in his Jeep as my car barely goes anywhere other than to work.
4) The new car will be purchased, not leased so I will have to like and it will have to fit us and our plans for a good long time.
5) I married a very tall man and there are a limited number of vehicles that he will fit in. (You'd be surprised what he won't fit into!)
What have you found? In a household with 1 parent working inside the home and 1 parent working outside - is it really necessary to have 2 vehicles that can easily accomodate car seats/baby gear (i.e. 2 minivans, 2 SUVs)? Or is it more practical to have 1 larger vehicle as the primary child cruiser and 1 vehicle that is smaller but will work if necessary?
My thoughts? The Jeep will be fine for now and we can re-evaluate when it comes time to return it. I'll get myself another Chrysler 300. (I really like my 300) If I wasn't trying to be a grown up, I would really like one of those sexy new Dodge Challengers. Rawr, purr.
Yes, I admit to being somewhat of a 13 year old boy. What do you expect from a Daddy's girl w/four brothers? C'MON - it's just sexy!
Help.
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5 comments:
Unless you're carrying twins (god forbid; sorry Sarah!) you absolutely do not need an SUV or minivan. In fact, you'll hate yourself if you get a large SUV/minivan because there are that many more spots of crap to accumulate, and it will! Not to mention gas prices will eventually go up again, and you'll need every spare nickel to spend on diapers.
You do need to make sure that whatever you get will accommodate the carseats though. The first 9mos-1yr doesn't matter as much since the infant seats snap into a stationary base and don't have a large footprint. However, after outgrowing an infant seat you'll still need to have the spawn rear-facing for some time in a convertible carseat. Because of the angle these need to be at, they can take up quite a bit of room, so there needs to be some space between the front and back seats. When our son was born, my partner had a Plymouth Neon and the car was physically incapable of handling the convertible carseat we purchased. We ended up getting a second infant seat for his car, eventually putting the convertible in mine (an older Accord), and getting another convertible for his after 1yr. We had to measure the maximum space between the seats and get something that would fit regardless of convenience/features of the seat. What a pain.
Another thing to consider is you might want an external-close trunk (ie, a sedan), or at the very least, a cover you can pull over junk in the back of an SUV/wagon. New parent brain syndrome will have you freaking out about the worst case scenario of everything, and if there's stuff in the back, in the case of an accident it can go flying around the car. I know this sounds silly now, but about 4 weeks after the spawn arrives, you'll seriously be freaking out about everything. I blame it on the lack of sleep.
It might sound silly, but when test driving cars, see if you can borrow a friend's stroller and just see how it fits in the back of various vehicles. We never had space issues with my Accord and my stroller was HUGE (the new models are a lot more streamlined when they're collapsed than mine was).
I agree with De. Unless you are planning on having another kid (or kids) right away you don't need another big car.
I'd say something that Matt fits in that gets good gas mileage and fit a car seat.
We have a minivan and a Civic - both Hondas, which have enough interior space for my husband. (We rented a minivan once - a Chevy, I think - but had to take it back immediately because Bump didn't fit behind the wheel. No lie. The damn thing was HUGE, but couldn't accommodate a 6'6" driver. I feel you on the surprising number of vehicles that don't fit tall people.
Bump drove a jeep until we needed three carseats. Depending on how you plan to space any future children, you may be just fine with the jeep (and you can get whatever your little heart fancies for your new car). We probably could have fit two car seats and a booster in the back of the jeep, but only a minivan or a very large SUV will fit three car seats.
Bump liked the jeep a lot - it was a good height for him to get kids in and out of the back seat. It was not ideal for me; I'm short and had to climb into the back seat to get the kids strapped in, but I never drove his vehicle.
I commute in the civic, and cannot take all three children with me at the same time. It hasn't been a huge problem, having only one car that all three kids fit in, but you'll probably want the flexibility of being able to transport Spawn in either vehicle. (I can take two in the civic, but not all three right now. It won't be an issue when they're older.)
Can't wait to see what you pick!
Well I've only been at this game for a little over 3 months, but I have a Grand Prix (not recommended for Matt as I'm short and I almost hit my head), but it fits the car seat perfectly and the trunk is huge, so Cash's big stroller fits back there and there's still room left for groceries. So I think a car is fine, you'll definitely be able to have the baby ride in your Chrysler 300 should you ever see the need. The Jeep will work fine for Matt too I'm sure, plenty of room for the baby and the baby's "stuff". I usually just bring a diaper bag and the stroller when I go places, but there's still room for a pack n play too in the back seat if I need to bring that. Mike has a big truck and we have another car seat base in there for when he needs to get Cash, and they seriously transfer so easily, so if you only have one base I'm sure that will be fine too! The important thing is just making sure you can get the carseat in and out of whichever vehicle you get, and I think you should be able to do that with both the Jeep and the Chrysler 300. Good luck!
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