An Ode to our minivan

Before I had kids I swore up and down that I would NEVER have a minivan.
I didn't want one. END OF THE STORY.
           There are other options, I told myself
            I laughed at people who drove them
            I mocked at the amount of crap people hauled
            I laughed every time I thought of myself driving one
            I swore I would NEVER drive one





I drive a minivan and I must profess my love of it for this season in life.
She hauls all the things that I can't figure out how to exist without.
She is coated in a beautiful layer of goldfish crumbs and some other unidentifiable snack.
On top of the crumbs from snacks there is a layer of toys and other random things.

She has had the honor of bringing home our son from the hospital.
She has picked up several kids from worse situations than I even want to imagine as we welcome kiddos into our home for foster care.

Our minivan is our families primary means of getting around as we all fit easily along with all the gear kids require and the dog. Our minivan is where I find a few brief moments to myself. It isn't totally unusual for me to sit in complete silence from work to daycare or vice versa. Silence is a rarity in my life, my introverted self savors the silence.

In our semi-annual cleaning of the van {I'd love to tell you we clean her weekly, or monthly, but really about every six months we get nervous we will lose a kid in the piles and do a deep clean of the van} it is always amazing what we find: countless daycare art projects, notes from daycare we probably should have read months ago, a stack of after visit summaries from doctors visits, band aids, toys, and things that only God can identify.

I'll be honest on family road trips my husband most often drives - I'll take my turn but I have a terrible sense of direction, so I spend my time sitting in the passenger seat, passing things back to the kiddos, climbing to the back to put pacifiers back in mouths, filling milk cups, returning the cd to favorite songs, crocheting, & sleeping.


I imagine if our van could speak she would speak of:
endless hours of listening to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"
the joy and frustration of road trips
countless conversations on the way to and from places
the songs our daughter has sung at the top of her lungs
the joy of the silence when all the kids are asleep
the late night drives to get a kiddo to fall asleep
the things that I have crocheted while riding
the stories we've told
the conversations we've had
the meals we've eaten
the previous cargo we've hauled



Today, and in this season of life, I give thanks for our minivan. I give thanks for the memories we make inside the van, the stories we tell, the miles it carries us, the sleep my kiddos get in it, and the places it takes us. Thank God for the minivan.

In the next few months our van will take us on countless road trips to: Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, and to Colorado. Watch for adventures to come.


Do you like road trips?
Any road trip tricks or tips with small children?
Anyone else love their minivan?