The New Back Seat

My husband and I finally decided that it was time to put his 1997 Toyota Avalon out to pasture.  We had been warned about a year earlier that the breaks wouldn't take a long road trips (apparently stopping on short journeys was still ok).  The rear suspension was gone.  The car was getting rusty.  We had put off the upgrade because at least the Avalon was paid off, we didn't really need any new expenses with the possibility of fertility treatments breathing down our infertile necks.  Finally we broke down.

The Avalon was a pretty luxurious car with a huge back seat.  So big that it led one friend of ours to lie in the back seat with her arms and legs in the air and pronounce that  this would be a great back seat for having sex.  It was so roomy.

Strangely, i never though of that car as a good car for a family.  Possibly because the image of my girlfriend with her legs akimbo and her panties flashing at me turned that car into a sudden symbol of depravity, or maybe just because the seats always seemed too big... it never seemed like the kind of car that should hold car seats.

 My husband commutes nearly an hour to work every day each direction, i commute 15 minutes.  My car is a little tiny Yaris which is not comfortable to drive in for any period of time, but is fantastically fuel efficient.  I have used every trick in my power to get my husband to drive the Yaris as much as possible so we can save to pay off bills and put some money aside.

Part of the plan in trading in the Avalon originally was to find a car that my husband would willingly drive but was more fuel efficient.  The selection of a new car was protracted. My husband finally decide on Honda CR-V.

"It'll be great for when we have kids", he told me.

"But you realize it isn't more fuel efficient" I responded. "I'm still going to try to trick you into driving the Yaris."

So back to the drawing board, more searching and researching and reading of reviews.  He finally decided on a 2009 Hyundai Sonata.  We found one at the first dealership we went to, a standard transmission to boot, making it a fantastic deal.

The first time I looked into our new back seat I realized this was a back seat I could picture putting car seats in.  Every time I drive the car I look back, and think of what this back seat is going to see.  Hopefully it will be the site of sibling rivalries and fights and "she touched me!" being yelled at us. I can't wait to fill that back seat.