OMG I am a grown up

Growing older is a fact of life that has never particularly bothered me.  I have never thought about it. Truly.  I was happy about sixteen because I could drive, 18 because I could vote, and 21 because I could drink (though I decided quickly that wasn't really for me).  I work with people in their 80s and 90s, I am not old.  I have never thought of myself as older, or an adult.  Until recently.  I recently purchased a mini-van.  Yes, the bastion of motherhood.  The beast that guzzles gas, but can hold six kids and all the junk required to keep them happy.  I finally did it. 

It was about the six month of my pregnancy when I took a good look in the mirror.  I noticed that my cute "freckles" aren't so cute anymore and they have multiplied.  Then I looked at my hands and just about passed out.  I have AGE SPOTS!  Am I old enough for this stuff?  Didn't I just graduate from college?   Oh yeah, I graduated over ten years ago!  Then I thought about motherhood.  I just had my first baby right?  Wait, that was SIX years ago (what happened?).   I guess I have been a grown up for awhile, except for that cute car...

I have always had fun cars.  A jetta, a bmw 5 series, and my latest a Beetle (new version).  I LOVE my beetle.  It is me.  I get to have a flower in a vase, and dangle wind chimes from my rear view mirror.  My daughter and I fit perfectly in it.  That would be the older L.  Then we found my husband, and we still fit.  Finally, the little L came along.  The only way I could possibly comfortably fit a rear facing car seat in that car would be to shrink about six inches (maybe I exaggerate, but only a little).  Quite the quandry since in the summer, my car stays cool and my husband's station wagon never cools off where the kids sit.  Trust me when I say I tried to fit that car seat in the car.  I forced the driver's seat down, and in the jetta wagon, I rode with my knees pushed against the glove box. 

So I woke up, realized I have to start acting like a grown up when it comes to vehicles and bought the mini-van.  I am sad to say I love it.  I should have done it sooner.  Who wouldn't love automatic doors for the kids, rear a/c, a back end that will hold the stroller without having to arrange and move everything carefully, utilizing every inch to fit all of the "stuff"?  But still....I finally feel like a real grown up, you know, the kind that says, "oh, kids today......".   By the way, have you noticed that kids today just seem so....young?

Now to deal with the consequences of years of sun worship as a youngster...