We had anticipated this and had banked enough to buy a Brand New Car. I know people who say it's a stupid move to buy a new car, but it's what we decided and we were happy with our choice. We bought a model right at the end of the year, and got a pretty good deal, but it was still a big investment.
Those first few months we were SO good. We never left trash in the car. We used Armor All wipes on the dashboard and vacuumed the floor mats regularly. And we didn't eat in the car.
On our first road trip that changed. But we were really careful.
When Jen got pregnant with The Bean I said that there was no way we would ever let him eat in the car. Well, before he was even born we were driving back to PA and Jen was having awful heartburn. She bought chocolate milk as it seemed to be one of the few things that helped. I, kind and thoughtful wife that I am, loosened the cap for her before placing it in the cup holder. Jen picked it up when we got back on the road and gave it a good shake. Chocolate milk everywhere.
It's kind of funny now, but it wasn't at the time.
Anyway, we should have taken that as a foreshaddowing of what was to come.
The Bean didn't eat in the car... for six months (i.e. while he was nursing). But that first big road trip after he had started solids, well, I couldn't pass the snacks back quickly enough. We're pretty sure that he now thinks of any road trip as an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Case in point: Nachos. With salsa.
Our "no eating in the new van" lasted approximately 3 weeks, then we went on vacation. There is always a bag of snacks packed for any car ride longer than an hour. ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't see how you can have that rule with kids. I mean, especially if you're doing road trips. This is why our van is regularly full of nastiness. I just cleaned it and hope to keep it somewhat clean for a while. I mean, the kids had chocolate milk dried up in the cup holders--it was BAAAAAD.
ReplyDeleteWe've bought new and used. I will always buy new. After buying our van (it was 3 years old with only 60,000 km on it) we have put in soooo much money that we could have bought it new and had a lot more time (and a lot less problems) with it. I like new. We've bought two new Toyotas (Echo and Corolla) and they have both been excellent.
We wanted to do the whole no eating in the van thing too...it just doesnt work out that way. With four kids, and trips in the car and everything else - eating happens. Now hopefully you keep your vehicle cleaner overall then we keep ours. Kids just come with too much stuff lol
ReplyDeleteI had a Ford Escort ZX2! We called it the Mint Chip. I loved it. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, our cars are both pretty nasty.
We also swore we wouldn't allow food in the car. Now...we lifted our son's car seat to switch it forward facing and found a mountain of goldfish, animal crackers, dried fruit, and other unknown substances underneath.
ReplyDelete