The minivan question

Every month or so, someone posts to one of the triplets-and-more themed boards asking The Minivan Question. It’s usually a dad-to-be or a brand new dad (though not always), wondering if it’s really necessary to get a minivan when you have multiples, and has anyone had luck with a sedan, or maybe a cool SUV? Anything—anything but a minivan?

Most of the responses say that yes, it’s necessary and no, hardly anyone has had much luck with anything else. The problem is that when you have three (or four or five) babies, it’s hard to get everyone maneuvered into the rear-facing car seats and latched into place in an SUV, even if it’s one of those behemoths with a third-row seat. A minivan’s big sliding doors and low ground clearance are perfect for wrestling lots of 1-year-olds into place.

Many parents probably have minivan aversion because it represents the desperate tendrils of their youth strangled by responsibility. When you have a minivan, you are officially settled down. Obviously, having children also means you are (or at least should be) settled down, but with a sporty car or SUV you can pretend you’re still hip or rugged as you drive to the grocery store for diapers and Butt Paste.

So far, the Wilson clan has done well with a crossover vehicle—meaning a station wagon with a cooler-sounding name. But now that we’re coming out of RSV season, the triplets will get to see that there’s a world outside our old four-square house (woo-hoo!). We’ll be taking trips to the zoo, to stores, visiting family and friends; you know, all the places “normal” families go with their kids. So I have a feeling our life sans minivan is coming to a close.

I’ve been telling myself that I am fine with the minivan thing. And then a few weeks ago, my parents bought a new minivan. I took a ride in it with my dad, and I realized that I am not fine with a minivan. I want one.

It had what they call a conversation mirror. Right...in a couple of years that will be a “who is pulling whose hair” mirror. Five years ago, I would have thought the stow-and-go seating in this minivan might be handy for hauling my bass amp around. Now, I just imagine how easy it would be to get two of the car seats into the back seat. And the built-in hard drive in the radio for storing mp3s? A few years ago I might have wanted to upload Flood by They Might Be Giants. Lately, it’s more like Here Come The ABCs by...well...They Might Be Giants. I saw everything in dad terms. And from a dad’s perspective, it seemed like the perfect vehicle.

It’s strange to be envious of something so many people dread. Maybe it would be easier if they came up with a cooler-sounding name than “minivan.” Maybe X-Treme Transport?