The Mento…
Recently my husband and I have been discussing selling his truck and getting something a little better on gas. He drives almost 60 miles roundtrip to work each day–sometimes twice a day–and the beautiful Titan Quad cab he has is lovely, but it’s a gas-sucker of the first order. In short, while he-man wonderful, it isn’t practical.  With my son just a couple of short years away from driving, we’ve been talking about cars a lot lately and my daughter, who loves the truck, was worried about what we would buy to replace it.
“So we might sell Daddy’s truck?” she asks.
“We’re thinking about it. We need something that gets better gas mileage.”
She frowned sort of fearfully. “We aren’t getting a Mento are we?”
“A Mento?” I am completely baffled. We’ve talked about several different options, but a breath mint hasn’t been one of them.
“You know,” she prodded. “A Mento. Like your first car.”
At this point I absolutely dissolved into a fit of laughter. My first car was a bright green 1978 Ford Pinto–which had been hit by a deer–and it was far from lovely. But *I* loved it because it was my first car, my first key to freedom, and what it lacked in style, it made up for in reliability. I recently googled the Pinto so my kids could see what it looked like.
Needless to say, they weren’t impressed.
“No, daughter,” I tell her, still snickering. “We won’t be getting a Mento.” 
March 27th, 2007 at 7:30 am
When DG was car shopping earlier this year, AC lobbied hard for a mini-van. She wanted the sliding doors that open and close automatically because they were cool.
We’ve promised her a 2007 mini-van for her 16th birthday. ~~snicker~~
March 27th, 2007 at 7:56 am
We have already started looking for Jake a car for his 16 th . He turns 15 in April , but we had cars for the other 2 before they turned 16 .
March 27th, 2007 at 8:00 am
My first car was an “electric blue” Geo Metro with 4 doors. A pregnant roller skate, we called it. It was a death trap and it rattled at 65 mph, but man, I loved that car.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:19 am
My first car was a 1957 Chev Belair. I bought it for a whopping $250 back in 1966 and had to wait 3 months before I was old enough to get my driver’s license. It only lived 22 days before I totalled it, landed myself in the hospital and lost my drivers license.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:22 am
My kidlet is 12. She’s already looking — but then again, we are a family of vehicle whores. Girl is partial to Corvettes. Hahahahahaha. NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:26 am
We’ve been car shopping recently too. I’ve told my husband I need more room! Me and two kids and all our junk in that little car is making me claustrophobic. I’m lobbying for a Durango, but we can’t seem to find any used ones around here.
My first car was shared with my twin sister. My parents bought us an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme to drive to college each day (50 minute drive one way). It was nice! Had a sun roof, nice stereo, and drove great.
By the way, my 2.5 year old is fascinated by all the little faces at the bottom of this page.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:46 am
I never really had a car of my own til I was married. I was allowed to drive one of the family cars if I needed to get somewhere really important on a school night or on the weekend. I didn’t have a car at college; I just wore out a lot of shoe leather. Then when I got married in 1973 we only had one car until we moved back from Germany in 1980. By that point we had a two-year-old and I had to have my own vehicle. In Germany I had access to great public transportation plus the DH worked 2 blocks from our apartment. I’ve gone from a Volvo to a minivan to another minivan to a Maxima and now an Accord. I sure wish they’d had those double sliding doors (and those nifty DVD players) when I had my minivans. It would have prevented a lot of travel-related frustration.
Unless things have changed, a pick-up truck is the cheapest thing you can insure a teenager in (provided it’s not a big V-8 model like the Titan or Tundra). We discovered this by accident when #1 son wanted a truck.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Kimberly, you are hysterical!
Good luck on the car search, Mis!
SP, I think I’ll google that and tell my daughter that’s what we’re getting. She’s already requested a lime-green VW bug, btw. She’s 11.
Jen, I am not surprised at all that Girl wants a Corvette.
Danniele, my friend has a Durango and she loves it. Lots of room there.
Marilyn, my son wants a pick-up truck but he’s getting my Trailblazer when the time comes. It’ll be paid for, and *I* can have something new. It’s a win-win situation.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:40 am
You know, I learned to drive on a mini-van and swore there was no way on God’s green earth I’d ever own one. Now I wouldn’t trade mine for the world. Those automatic sliding doors are FANTASTIC!
I don’t even want to think about my girls driving. It’s bad enough that my five yr old already has a thing for older men.
Kira
March 27th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Older men, huh? She got her eye on a 4th grader?
March 27th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
The 4th grader was last year. At the moment she has a crush on my cousin (he was at the beach with us last week) he’s 11. The other day she told DH our 9th grade neighbor was so cute. I’m in troooouuuuuble.
Kira
March 27th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Hopefully she’ll quickly transition into the ‘boys are yucky’ phase before you have to lock her in her room.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I am soooooo feeling this! My oldest is 15 in May, and in the great state of South Carolina 6 months after they get their permit they can try for their restricted liscence. Granted they can only drive during daylight hours, but still. We bought her a used 93 Chevy Blazer for 400 bucks. It needs a little tinkering, but considering most kids wreck their first car, I could not pass up that buy! Her dream car is a Lexus…like she is getting one before me. NOT!
March 27th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Kira,bless your heart! You *are* in for it. My aunt taught my little sister to look at men and say, “Where’ve you been all my life you sexy thang?” when she was 3. The mentality stuck.
Andrea, my 11-year-old is still in the boys are yucky phase. I am *so* thankful.
Sheryl, your oldest definitely shouldn’t get a Lexus *before* you. It sets a bad precedent.
March 27th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I thought Pintos were outlawed. Something to do with the gas tanks exploding a long time ago. I myself want a 4 door truck. It can be a Toyota, Nissan or Honda whichever is the cheapest. Of course I don’t where I would get the money to pay for one at this time, but a girl can dream…. My first automobile was a truck and I don’t remember what year is was but is was an oldie.