Friday, December 6, 2013

Mom Car


Within a day of having Forest home and trying to fit 4 adults and 1 baby into our BMW X1, we realized we needed a bigger car. 
I know, I know, we are sooooo American. But it’s true. With the car seat in the back, the passenger seat was pushed up so far that Jonathan honestly couldn’t fit his legs into the vehicle. Not to mention that we have two dogs and a BOB stroller the size of an army tank that we have to fit in the back. So Jonathan went off on the task to find us an appropriate ‘Mom’ car. He sold his Defender, and we traded in my BMW to consolidate our two cars into one massive vehicle: a Range Rover. 
It is very spacious and luxurious, but I’m terrified of driving/parking it in downtown Aberdeen. Jonathan drove us to Union Street to go to The Whisky Shop and I thought the parking garage we pulled into was going to decapitate our gigantic vehicle. Luckily 'The Range' has a button to lower it several inches, so we were able to successfully get in and out of the parking garage without any damage, though maneuvering into a parking space was quite the tedious and time consuming endeavor. I won’t be trying that one by myself! 

I also have to use the lowering feature when I’m putting Forest in and out of the vehicle because otherwise I am too short to reach. When I went to test drive it, I was still healing from my episiotomy stitches and I could barely even hoist myself into the car because it was such a huge step up. First World Problem? Anyways, I officially feel like a Mom since I officially drive the British version of a Mom car (same as Will and Kate, just a couple of years older). 

Not exactly a mini-van, but it’ll do the job.Yep, it'll do the job just fine.
Nothing but the best for our little British Prince. 

9 comments:

  1. Hi Laine,
    I sit here wondering why you deleted the comments made by "Anonomys" about your new "mom car"? I read it first ting in the morning, and when I looked at it later in the day it was gone.. You must surely realize that not everyone is as fortunate as you are..?..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I deleted the comments because it's my blog, and I have a right to delete anything that I view as negative or hurtful. Of course I recognize that other people are less fortunate than I am. I also know that some people are more fortunate than I am, and yet I don't begrudge them for it. Not that it matters, but our "new" vehicle is several years old with quite a few miles on it. My husband and I share one vehicle. If you took the amount of money the average middle-class American couple spends on vehicles, we actually come in under that. My husband works very hard and our family makes a lot of sacrifices for his career. We are blessed that that hard work and sacrifice have rewarded us with a comfortable lifestyle. But I refuse to feel guilty or ashamed that we bought a car that we can afford in order to give us enough space to comfortably fit our family. I write my blog as a way to keep our family and friends back home up to date with the tiny minutia of our daily lives, not to cater to some populous agenda. I'm sorry if you think writing about a car purchase is ostentatious or tacky, but to me it seemed like a worthy topic.

      Delete
    2. Laine, I must admit reading for blog for awhile now, I do feel you come across as quite a materialistic person. How you needed "special" baby furniture from the states, using all that money and resources to buy cribs and drawers and such when there is plenty of perfectly good baby furniture available here in Scotland. (They have babies here too! )
      Your rantings about the NHS care was not very good either. You should really be so thankful of the care they provided you with. Imagine you were stationed by your husbands work, in Nigeria for expample... You would be wishing you were somewhere warm, clean and safe with lots of skilled dr's and midwives, somewhere like Scotland. Please try to be a bit more humble!

      Delete
    3. Sheesh, what is it, 'National Pick on a Sleep Deprived, Emotionally Unstable New Mom Day'?' Not that I am required to defend myself but I was nothing but fair to the NHS. They only thing I really ranted about was the hospital food, and I stand by that criticism. It was terrible. I said plenty of positive things about my experience as well. I was trying to paint an accurate picture of what the system is like here and all I can do is share my experience. It was all factual.

      As for the 'special' baby furniture, we paid less for that than we would have if we'd bought a set from Mommas and Pappas or similar UK brand. The US just has more options, and better quality for a lower price. We'd have been foolish not to get our furniture there. And I'm sorry for being excited about my nursery furniture, but who isn't? Should I not blog about it for fear of coming across as materialistic? It's exciting! I wanted to share it.

      Again, first and foremost, this blog is for our friends and family. They know us and know that we ARE humble and we ARE NOT materialistic and that we thank God for our many blessings every single day and give him the credit for every good thing in our lives. Our friends and family are interested in our baby furniture and what cars we drive, and any other seemingly mundane aspect of this experience. They miss us and want to feel included in our daily lives, as we want them to be. The fact that people beyond our inner circle read this blog is always flattering and *humbling* to me. I am a super sensitive person who just wants to make everyone happy and live at peace with those around me. To know I've caused offense to anyone always causes me distress, so I'm sorry that I came across as such a rotten person. I'm obviously not doing a good job of articulating my inner heart, That being said, I would never read someone's blog and leave a mean and critical comment such as this....

      Delete
    4. Laine, I've been getting increasing upset at some of the comments left for you and I've tried to write something nice just after them. I remember what it's like (not that long ago) to be a new Mom and you don't need this. You are also away from home too. I'm not from your inner circle but as another expat from Ireland I do enjoy your blog to see how someone else is adapting to life in Aberdeen. Big hugs and if I could send you 10 hours sleep I would. Sandra

      Delete
    5. Thank you for your support. It really warmed my heart. I wish you could send me 10 hours of sleep as well:) But baby boy has slept about 6 hours for the past 2 nights so things are looking up!

      Delete
  2. I love the new car! And I love you. You are wonderful. Thanks for sharing all the little and big things going on in your life from day to day. I miss you and it makes me feel so close to you to get to read your blog and keep in touch.

    ReplyDelete