Momification: Complete.

My momification is now complete. I own a minivan.

Yesterday we traded my cute-and-a-little-sporty Honda CRV for an Odyssey. I'm a little sad to see the CRV go - we didn't have it very long, it was super cute and it fit me pretty well. I'm a fairly small person and so a fairly small SUV was good for me.

However, there was no denying the fact that we simply needed more space. My husband is a not so small person and he wasn't terribly comfortable in the CRV. And with two carseats, there was absolutely no room for anyone but the four of us. Considering the plan at the moment is to turn our family of four into a family of five in a couple of years, the minivan was pretty much inevitable.

We were certainly anti-minivan holdouts for a long time. We researched larger SUVs and station wagons, thinking we could somehow avoid the badge of dorky suburban parenthood that is the minivan. We grudgingly admitted when driving our friend's minivan on vacation a couple years ago that they were rather practical. But still - we just weren't minivan people.

When did that change?

Probably sometime between our metamorphasis from snowboarding/late night movie watching/eating out/mountain biking/spontaneous road tripping people to diaper changing/toy toting/home by 6 for bedtime people.

And honestly, I say that with nothing but happiness.

I had to run to the store last night and as I opened the door to the garage, there was this profound sense of rightness as I gazed at the vehicle parked there. This is the phase of my life where I drive a minivan. This car represents a future full of toting kids around and all the playdates, soccer games, recitals, school carnivals, parent teacher conferences, dinners at McDonald's and trips to the zoo that being a parent entails. I do not forget that this was something that, not too long ago, I had reason to fear I would never have. Now I do.

So yes, I drive a minivan. And rather than going into it kicking and screaming, as I once would have declared I would, I look at my new ride with happiness and, what the heck, a sense of pride. It's my Mom car and I'm happy as hell that I have reason to have one.

Two in fact.