It’s the great debate, isn’t it? There are two very distinct camps when it comes to family vehicles: those who love minivans and those who don’t. And almost (I said almost) everyone who does not love minivans instead prefers SUVs. Which is fine for them. If they don’t mind spending $70 or so to fill their gas tank every week or so. And if they don’t mind driving the suburban equivalent of a tank (see, there I go, being all judgemental).

When my husband and I got married, we bought a used Dodge Neon. We figured we would be practical and get one with four doors instead of two, just in case we had children. And we did. Our son showed up a little over a year later and we set up his carseat in the middle of the backseat like you’re supposed to. And then… we went on a trip to visit family.

Trying to cram everything in that dinky little car was a nightmare. I never expected it would be so difficult or that such a little person would necessitate so much STUFF. The last straw was when we went on a camping trip that summer. My in laws had a minivan and I literally drooled over it. Since we knew we wanted more than one child, we decided our next vehicle would be a minivan. End of story.

And it was. We got a used Dodge Caravan a few months later. A couple years after that, we upgraded to a Dodge Grand Caravan. We haven’t looked back since. And I love my minivan! I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Here’s a little list of just why I love a minivan:

• Cupholders, cupholders, cupholders! There is one for literally every seat. At least one. Maybe two. This is invaluable.
• Gas mileage. While not great, it’s better than your standard SUV and we enjoy seeing what kind of average MPG we are able to achieve. Generally, we can score around 22-24 miles per gallon. Not bad!
• Seat configurations. Having two “captains” chairs in the second row is great when you’ve got two in carseats. The kids aren’t right next to one another and therefore are a lot less likely to pester one another on long car trips.
• Sliding doors. This feature is especially nice when you’re in a cramped parking spot. It won’t matter how close the car on the right parked to you when you try to wrangle your toddler in or out of his seat because you can open the door regardless. Score!
• Removable seats. We don’t have the handy “Stow n’Go” feature, but the seats in our van are still removable. And if we did have the handy folding third row or stowable second row? Think of the space we could have at a moments notice!
• Drivable. I don’t feel like I’m driving such a monstrosity as I have the times I’ve driven someone else’s truck or SUV. It’s more like a car, just… longer.

I’m starting to realize I could go on and on here. I think you get the point though. Minivans rock. And if you’re concerned about looking “cool”, just do what we did. Slap a really distinctive (and perhaps slightly nerdy) “Lord of the Rings” sticker in your rear window. I like to think that sticker makes us just slightly subversive.

So tell me, what side of the debate do you fall on? Join us over at the Blissfully Domestic forums and stick up for your family vehicle of choice!

When she isn’t driving her minivan around town, Marilyn can be found over at her blog, slackermama . com, where she makes it through yet another day with her three kids.