We have been car hunting.
It is time to upgrade and take the plunge towards a more "family-orientated" vehicle.
Aka: A people mover.
Aka: An MPV (multi-purpose vehicle).
Aka: A loser cruiser.
A vehicle that screams out food wrappers, chocolate stains and sticky-finger-smeared windows.
Although we don't have a big enough brood to fill one, with
two kiddy car seats in the back and airbags ruling out the front, the average five-seater can only realistically fit two preschoolers.
Which leaves no room for picking up friends for playdates, or carpooling for the ballet run.
So we put our pride aside and went in search of a new set of wheels.
And were surprisingly wowed by the first one we stepped into.
Yes, stepped into.
Because it was so roomy you could walk around inside it.
It was big and red and shiny and, according to the girls, magic.
The back row of seats folded in under themselves like something from a James Bond movie and the sliding doors opened and closed at the touch of a button.
It was also double what we could afford.
Blinded by love, we took it for a spin anyway.
As we zipped down the expressway, Miss Two and Miss Four watching the world whiz by from their lofty perches, the lyrics to the Wiggles' Big Red Car danced in my head.
A van emblazoned with "Big Red Carpet Cleaning Services" on it pulled into the lane in front of us.
It was a sign.
This was OUR car.
I regrouped my image of people movers.
Mumsy? No. Yummy Mummy? Definitely.
I would be the picture of chic pulling up in the kindy carpark.
We went home and number-crunched.
But the crunch was it was out of our league.
A few days later we found something a whole lot more affordable and a whole lot less chic.
After signing on the dotted line, I enthusiastically asked Miss Four what she thought of our new car.
"I wanted the magic car," she said, her face crumpling.
"Well, Mummy doesn't have a magic wallet," I said, trying to explain the economics of the situation.
"Why don't you help me think of a name for it?"
"The green frog," she replied.
I guess it has a certain je ne sais quoi about it.
If you say it in French.
La grenouille verte.
Our very own LGV.
