Saturday, January 29, 2011

New Wheels

Yesterday we became a 2-car family again.

For the 1st time in 5 years.....5 years, people.

Going down to 1 car back in 2006 (almsot 5 years ago, exactly), was the best thing for us, and we both know it was the right thing to do. And I admit: it wasn't as bad as I expected. We made it last longer than I thought it would, and for that, I am proud of us.

Does that sound cocky, saying I'm proud of us?
Let me explain.
A few people have commented that it was "easy" for us to only have one car, because Pat's work is only 2 miles away.

When we went down to one car, Pat had a 30 minute commute.  That was from January 2006 until September 2006, when we moved to Ohio.
From September 2006 until just before Brennan was born (April 2007), Pat's commute was almost an HOUR. So "easy", right? Not to mention once we moved to Ohio, we had no family minutes away to help if need be.
Pat's office finally relocated (much behind schedule) right around the time Brennan was born.

We've made it work, and we're fortunate to live close to his work and our parish/school.
That didn't all happen by chance, though. We planned for buying a house that would enable us to stay to one car. It wasn't luck.

I have to say, it doesn't necessarily matter how far away you have to drive your spouse to work.
When you have kids, especially school-aged kids with more time commitments & obligations, it's a pain to have to pack them up & head out every day at 5:00. It's when homework is being done. It's when dinner should be prepped. It's when kids, even just two of them, have reached their witching hour and offer less-than-pleasant attitudes.
And in wintery weather...doesn't matter how far you have to drive.
You still have to warm up the car.
You still have to shovel to get out of your driveway.
You still have to scrape the car.

I suppose it's obvious people's comments about it being "easy" for us with one car annoyed me, because 1-people commenting that have never been in my shoes, 2-it's NOT easy just because it doesn't require a ton of time in the car.

Pat & I know what it took having one car for so long. We're the ones who fully understand the challenges & benefits, and that's all that I should care about, I know.

Thankfully now we have 2 cars again.
Our Odyssey, which we bought when Aidan was 1.
And now Pat has a blue Honda Accord. :)

5 comments:

Hyperactive Lu said...

Be VERY VERY proud! A lot of determination to do the one car thing! We've thought about it SEVERAL times.... and probably would if Hubbie lived a little closer to work. We actually almost did it when I quit work, but we moved further away from the job.... :) Congrats you guys!!!!

Erica Saint said...

It is hard! Be proud! We were a one car family for a while, and it was very hard. Congratulations on the new car!

Bethany said...

Yay! I'm proud of you guys- I know that having one car was definitely NOT easy for you. But you did it!

Amy said...

Congratulations! We were a one-car family for about a month. And not a very patient month at that. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You guys are an inspiration.

Thrifty and Chic Mom said...

I am so happy for you. We have been a 1 car family at various times but never longer than 6 months at a time and it was hard. You should be extremely proud of yourself that is a huge sacrifice and not easy good for you. I am so glad you now have 2 cars!