4 tips for buying a family car

1. Do your research- check out consumer reports, talk to friends and family about what their cars are like, compare and contrast different cars to see pros and cons.
2. Test drive with your carseats. Assuming your kids still are in carseats, bring them along and put them in the cars you are test driving. We quickly eliminated several models because we realized that the front passengers would have to give up too much legroom in order to accommodate a rear facing car seat. 
3. Imagine what you would actually have in your car. Are you going to be road-tripping in this car? How would suitcases fit in the back? Or that jogging stroller you have at home? 
4. Stick to your budget. Dealers are going to post prices higher than the fair market value (check Kelly Blue Book on all cars!!!) and they will try to get you to sign a contract by lowering your monthly payments and stretching everything out. Low monthly payments won't make up for the fact that you have an expensive car to pay off for years and years. 

Todder Narrations

One of the pros to having a talking toddler is that they inadvertently will narrate or comment on something that cues you in on potential messes or misbehavior. For example, when I was a child I would say "not nice" whenever I was doing something naughty.

Similarly, Man-cub D will say things like "BUG!" if he sees one in the house (which is useful for me because he's closer to the ground and will notice them more). He also will say "booger" if he happens to pick his nose and strike gold, thus alerting me to grab a tissue. He says "uh-oh" if he drops or throws something. All of these things are words he says not necessarily to alert me, but I get the added benefit anyway.

What does your toddler narrate?