I first realised my relationship with the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine had a future when I vomited in his car and he didn’t chuck me out of it. Back then, the NLM’s car was his pride and joy. It was a sporty black number which he loved more than his copy of Guitar Hero – a truly meaningful relationship for a young, free and single NLM pre-kids.
Much to his disappointment, once we settled down and became parents the NLM had to let his first love go. The black sporty number was no longer appropriate for family life. The lack of back doors meant getting a baby seat in and out was almost logistically impossible. Every car trip out with the baby involved a manoeuver requiring as much brain capacity as a complex Sudoko puzzle – not something either of us had as sleep-deprived new parents.
The NLM’s dream car may have been fast, but it had zero boot space. Visits to see family up north would involve me sitting with a suitcase on my knee all the way up the M5. What’s more, the seats were so low you could feel every bump in the road. I remember screaming mid-contraction as we raced to hospital when I was in labour with Frog, “I HATE THIS BLOODY CAAAAAAAAR!”.
Not long after Frog was born we changed our car for a far more practical Vauxhall Vectra. For a family of three, this suited us down to the ground. Compared to the shoebox-sized boot space of our previous car, this car’s boot felt like a huge football pitch. We had five doors (FIVE DOORS!) so no more difficult manoeuvers to get the baby seat into the back. And I no longer felt like a rally car passenger as I sat in the front seat.
But then we had Baby Girl and we started to fall out of love with the reliable Vectra. The NLM’s 6’5″ frame meant we struggled to fit the baby seat in the back behind him. We swapped Frog’s seat over, but she didn’t have any leg room sitting behind her dad. The boot suddenly felt tiny; not big enough to hold a buggy, travel cot, multiple suitcases and packs of nappies on our trips away. Our poor car heaved under the weight of us, overloaded like a tired packhorse on market day.
And so, last week, we bought a new family car. The NLM is in love once again.
Our new car is a Honda CR-V and is an ideal car for a family of four. We perused many a car finance guide before deciding to upgrade our car. If you’re in the same position you might want to check out the loans homepage from TSB – you can get an instant online decision and two repayment holidays per year.
Anyway, back to the car. The NLM is like a love-struck teen. In fact, I don’t remember him devoting this much attention to me when we first got together. He’ll bring the subject of the car up at any given opportunity. Frog suggested eating a biscuit in the back of the new car yesterday and he shot her a look that he usually reserves for cold-callers and people who don’t say “bath and grass” correctly.
The NLM paws over the leather interior of our new car like a devoted lover. “We can wipe these seats down really easily if they get sticky”, he tells me – even though we both know the chances of him letting anything sticky inside the car is slim to none. In fact, I’m surprised he’s even letting Baby Girl travel in the car with us and not making me run behind, pushing her in the buggy.
“Just check out this boot space!” he exclaimed when he brought the car home last week (I was more than happy to let him go and make the purchase solo, trusting that his hours of research watching YouTube tutorials and poring over car magazines had paid off). “And it even has built-in sat nav, hands-free and heated seats!” he chirruped joyfully. “Oh and this air con will be soooo useful when we go to France!”.
I’m starting to wonder if my husband’s love for the new family vehicle is a little over-blown. I mean, I caught him sitting in the car at 11pm the other night playing with the Bluetooth connection. It’s just a matter of time before he asks to take the spare pillows outside and sleep in it for fear of his new mistress getting lonely at night.
Tell me, what do you think makes the ideal family car? And does your partner love the car a leeeeeettle too much?!
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Disclosure: Thanks to TSB for working with me on this post. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.
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Haha I was sick all over Matt’s new van once after drinking too much at a party, it did not go down well!! I have a Ford Galaxy at the moment which I love, it’s pretty old and not in the best condition but I quite like that as I don’t have to worry about getting it dirty! It’s so big which is useful as I can just shove the pushchair in the boot without even folding it down x