Tales of a "retired mom"

Well, I am never really going to be a retired mom, but you know what I mean. In a few short weeks, our youngest will be 20 years old, so I kind of think my active parenting years are over. You know, I am still a parent, but the relationship with my kids is different. We have had at least one teen in the house since Jan 1991--over 18 years!

Anyway, I ditched one of the big symbols of active parenting--my mom-mobile--or in layman terms, my mini-van. Yep. This past week I graduated to my dream vehicle. I mean, I must be having a mid-life crisis or something, because we actually bought my dream vehicle.

Bob and I were on our way to the Chrysler dealer to see if we could get a deal on a new car. His dad is retired from Chrysler, so between that discount and the fact that Chrysler is trying to dump a lot of vehicles, we figured this would be a good time. Well, traffic was backed up, so we took a detour to a used car lot that we really like to look there first. It is nice, clean and the guys are really professional. It is a small, family run lot-not your typical used car lot at all. We bought a nice car for Kari there almost two years ago.

John started showing us the smaller cars with low mileage, which is what we told him we wanted. BUT, then, what did I see? A red JEEP!? I mean, there it was, calling out to me. And it was red--THE best color for a vehicle, in my humble opinion. My eyes lit up and my husband knew, as did the salesman, that getting a smaller car was probably not going to happen.

Back 45 years ago, when I was in third grade, the dentist in town, Dr. McKinley had some teen age girls--they looked like California girls, you know, long-legged with great hair. To a short, dark haired 8 year old with a pixie hair cut, they looked like movie stars. And they had a pink Jeep! It had a pink and white striped awning type top, and it was pink and it was THE BEST VEHICLE I had ever seen. Ever since that summer all those years ago, I have wanted a jeep--not pink, but red. I pushed it out of my mind for years, but the longing resurfaced from time to time.

Well, you know what happened. We took it for a ride and I was beside myself. I NEVER get excited about cars, and don't know one make or model from another, but this Jeep was in my blood. I told Bob it was impractical, we came to find a car. He said, no, we came to find a smaller vehicle and one with low mileage. The Jeep is smaller, has only 21,000 miles, one owner, no accidents. PERFECT!

So, now I have my dream vehicle. The first day I drove Kari through the creek, twice! I still have to figure out how to use the 4 wheel drive, but I plan to take it out to our farm and give it a try there.

I can't believe how much younger I feel when I am driving it--the wind blowing through my hair. My mom-mobile is in the driveway waiting for a new home, but my Jeep is waiting for me. Waiting for adventure. Waiting to climb any hill or cross any stream. Retired moms have all the fun.