Need further proof that I'm a Beta Mom? Just look at the car I drive. It's a minivan. In fact, its three minivans (my husband is one of those rare males who actually prefers a minivan because of the great square feet to mileage ratio). If I was an Alpha Mom, I would have dumped one of these buggies a long time ago for a Lexus or SUV, (past boomer cars of choice). And by now, I'd probably be driving a hybrid (new millennial car of choice).
I have an almost 16-year-old daughter who rejoiced when I sideswiped the oldest van with a light post last year. She thought we'd junk it. Wrong. When my husband, determined to keep the van for her to use once she gets her drivers license, was driving it to the body shop for repairs, it popped an axle. He got that fixed too.
That was the incident that prompted us to buy our third minivan. You never know when that eleven-year-old car is going to go. We flirted with a smaller, more gas efficient model. It was the image of our two kids being trapped together in the back seat that swayed us. Or worse yet, me trapped in the back in order to keep them separated.
So far, my daughter isn't even close to having enough driving hours to get her drivers license, let alone keys to the old van. But when she's ready, I'll tell her, baby, you can drive that car.