Sellout

I have always tried to make environmentally conscious decisions. I have driven the tiniest little Honda with great fuel efficiency for coming up on 9 years. Dear Sean, all 6'3'' of him, has managed to deal with my (now our) tiny car-for the past 5+ years that we have lived here-as his sole vehicle (and I can safely say he really misses his Toyota Tacoma that we sold before moving here). I recycle religiously...use rechargeable batteries in everything and generally try to live as clean as I can.

I am struggling to justify what we will do on Saturday, but I guess the bottom line is that we are not willing to risk Gillian's life (or our own now that she's in it) in our tiny shoebox of a car any longer:
*We saw how our front end looked after Sean slid on ice into the back of a minivan going less than 5 miles an hour. The Honda? Totalled, folks (we still fixed it-it was cheaper than getting something that required payments). What if it was a side impact? It's amazing how your world view changes once there's an infant in it.
*Gillian's about to outgrow her infant seat, which barely fits in the hatchback (the next seat up will definitely not fit).
*The hatchback is a two-door car. Have you ever tried lifting something heavy, like an infant carrier full of infant, from the middle of a backseat, navigating the tangly seat belt and passenger seat (which doesn't really go up enough to pull her out without a fight)??
*Sean's staple will become cello making, and cello making requires huge pieces of wood and super-sized tools, such as industrial sized drill presses, and joiners, and electric planers, and power sanders, etc. etc. Neither the pieces of wood nor the tools fit in the Civic, unless, of course, we pull the infant seat base out every time we put the seats down to load the back.

And how sad that a mid-size sedan felt like a sardine can for all 3,000 miles of our cross-country extravaganza with all the baby gear, which is the impetus for this whole crazy purchase ('cause my heart was set on a Honda Civic Hybrid that gets 50 mpg)...I will never snort in disdain at another SUV driving soccer mom ever again (well, except that one that drives a pink Hummer in Evanston-she deserves it; or anyone who thinks they need to drive an Army truck for city living, for that matter). Now I KNOW. When you have multiple children (and we are buying with family expansion in mind), you are destined for a minivan (just YUCK) or a more sporty SUV, or to never taking road trips with infants and sticking with your sedan. That said, I still can't understand why people choose to afford the Cadillac Escalades or the Ford Expeditions (which, quite frankly, require enough gasoline to fuel a small army of my Civic).

Well, we're selling out. We're buying a Honda CRV. On Saturday, ironically the day before Earth Day. We are getting something with cargo room for Sean to haul wood and tools that doesn't require the removal of the infant seat to put the seats down to do the hauling. It is safe, and roomy for our little family. It is grownup. It has room for the car seat, and has a LATCH system. I regret that it's not a hybrid, but they aren't making small SUV hybrids just yet. And I am going to sell my sweet little car that has served me so well since 1998, when I finally gave up on my '72 VW beetle (aka "Lima Bean", that had stylin' daisy hubcaps). I have gotten so attached to my two "all-manual-all-the-time" life cars. I just don't think that will happen this time. How can you fall in love with something so tall?? (perhaps the seat warmers and sunroof might help)?

I, Michelle, Mother of Gillian, Wife of Sean, am officially going to the dark side of convenience over environmental responsibility. I am buying an SUV. I am a sellout, a pseudo-yuppie, double-talker. At least my conscience will be clear during the workweek, where I will continue to take public transportation. I suppose I can call it Sean's car, and free myself from the guilt (since it is true that I typically drive about 3 miles a week one day a week, and that is usually for food shopping...and the occasional jaunt to Target or Baby Mecca-aka Babies R' Us). But I am in the car when Sean drives on Fridays and Sundays, which would make it our car, no matter how you slice it.