When I moved to New York from Detroit, I would have laughed if you told me that five years later I would be driving a 2009 Kia Sedona minivan around the neighborhood, complete with a baby in a car seat! But last Wednesday I gave birth to a baby boy only to find myself this week wrestling with a Chicco car seat on the way to the first pediatrician’s visit.

My mom – the new grandmother — and I reminisced as I gingerly eased the van on the road, a tad more cautious than usual with my little one in tow. My mom drove a minivan when I was a kid — the first was a red 1984 Dodge Caravan. We would tug on the big heavy sliding door and pile in. I remember stripping off my baton twirling outfit and pulling on my softball jersey in the backseat, schlepping from one after school activity to another. While I was a little big for car seats then, I didn’t appreciate the value of convenience that arose during the minivan mom generation, trumping the awkward grocery getter.

Yet, here I am admiring the thoughtful placement of cubbyholes and spaces for stashing diaper bags and the easy access to car seats with the new grandmother. More to come on the Sedona and the expansion of my viewpoint from aspiring race car driver to minivan mom. How about race car driving minivan mom?

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