New car smell

One of the things they don’t tell you when you have kids is how much of a pain in the ass car seats are. They’re hard to install, hard to uninstall, the straps and buckles constantly have to be adjusted and untwisted, many babies loathe them to the point of screaming, and they take up a ridiculous amount of real estate. I suspect the SUV manufacturers and the car seat manufacturers are in cahoots, but that’s another post.

After Gwen was born, we bought a pre-owned minivan because we couldn’t physically fit our family in a Nissan Sentra with a forward-facing toddler car seat, a rear-facing infant car seat, and a 6’4″ husband. My knees were crushed against the dash, and Tim couldn’t fit in the passenger seat. Bizarre, because a Sentra isn’t even a small car by most standards, but I digress.

In 2011, we said goodbye to what little cool we’d salvaged as new parents in favor of something practical. Admittedly, it was nice to have the extra space when we needed to haul things, and it made longer family road trips comfortable. Our Honda Odyssey served us well for four years.

Until a few weeks ago, when we realized both kids are in booster seats, and we don’t need a minivan! Why don’t they write about this milestone in the baby books?

There’s a new baby in the family, and its car seats come pre-installed:

Our new Honda Fit hatchback fits us comfortably with room to spare, and it’s a hell of a lot more fun to drive.

(I know it’s hopeless, but I like to think I’ve gained a smidge of my cool back, too.)