This week we welcomed a new addition to the family. Yep. I know. The Little Miss is only 8 weeks old, but we did it.
We bought a car!
The Unprepared household is pretty excited. See, it’s the first time we have had two decent family cars at once. Now I’m not talking anything super flashy. Our vehicles are quite modest. A station wagon and a dual cab ute – both second hand purchases and a few years old. But we are thrilled. Because Mr Unprepared usually drives crap-heaps, while I run around in the better car. He used to work FIFO and those guys are renowned for having shitty run-abouts to leave at the airport. I think we never really lost that habit, even after he started working closer to home just before I got pregnant with the Little Miss. Also, I think he secretly enjoyed finding junk on Gumtree and haggling for it haha.
We’d been considering our options for a while, but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. Partly because we had research to do and partly because hello, having a baby and a C-section. I have to say the last straw was when I had to trade cars with Mr Unprepared to attend a hospital appointment. He had to take both the Little Mister and the Little Miss on the school run and had let me know that the pram did not fit in the boot of his car. That’s not so practical as you can imagine! Then I had the task of driving his sedan. Oh boy. Every time I drove it, something else would have deteriorated. I’ve had it backfire on me and the engine cut out while driving home from somewhere. I’ve felt weird about the steering (a sedan of that kind should not feel like a truck to manoeuvre). The general grottiness of the interior made me cringe. When he purchased it, the steering wheel had become almost floppy from exposure to the sun (I think?) and had to be replaced. In fact, SO MUCH STUFF had to be replaced. It was a lot to do with its age and the wear and tear that occurred during its past life as a mine car. The idea of my precious people being in that vehicle has always made me feel concerned. Not to mention, it didn’t seem right that every trip you took in it felt like a gamble! That day (the fateful day where I called it and said enough was enough), I came home to Mr Unprepared and literally said, “Let’s go car shopping. We cannot do this another day. I won’t allow it! You deserve better. We all do!”
We had carefully considered our finances and have always lived well within our means. We just had to have the courage to aim a little higher in what we felt we needed for our family.
It must have been fate, because the day we re-commenced browsing at vehicles (a lot of tentative research had already been done), was the day we found The One. When the used car salesman told us it only had one owner who was older and hadn’t taken it very far and looked after it really well, it wasn’t just a line. It was true! It ticked off literally every one of our criteria and the price was right! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that make/model look that wonderful for a car of its age. We felt very excited. Mr Unprepared took it for a test drive and his joy upon returning was very evident (even though he was supposed to be playing it cool haha).
Our new car marks the beginning of a new era. The ‘OMFG we are finally grown ups’ era. I think back to my childhood. My parents working their way towards owning a 4WD, as well as a pretty respectable family school run/city car. Taking us on camping trips and adventures that memories are made of.
This is more than a car. It will allow us the lifestyle I’ve always dreamed of for my family. We’ll tow our little camper trailer around on family holidays, go camping with our friends, hit the beach tracks on the weekends. My children (and husband for that matter) will be safe in EITHER of our cars on any given day and I won’t want to vom if I have to swap cars for any reason!
Mr Unprepared’s mind has been blown that he will be able to travel from Point A to Point B without having to mentally run through what he’ll do if the car breaks down or does something scary haha.
How’s that for adulting?!
