One is never too young to start deliberating over car choices.
MY daughter just turned six. On her birthday, she attended her first overnight camp at her kindergarten. Five days after that, we registered her for Primary One.
Along with the first step, first word, and first day at preschool, these are little rites of passage in our children’s lives, the significant milestones marking their transition from one stage to another.
Almost every parent laments over how quickly our children grow. Every candle that we add to their birthday cakes is one step closer to the day when our babies are ready to take on the world.
One day, my daughter and I had a conversation in the car on the journey home from school. I picked her up in an Audi I was test-driving, and she again announced that her dream car is an Audi TT – very specifically, an orange one. She went on to add that she also likes the Citroen Cactus.
The dilemma of which car to buy first ensued. After pondering for a while, she decided that she would buy the TT first, before she had any children of her own, because it is a two-seater. And when she becomes a mother, she will buy the Cactus.
I was dumbfounded for a moment. I didn’t want to think about kids until four years into our marriage and here was my preschooler already factoring family planning into an informed decision about car choices.
I gave up trying to decipher what other complex contemplations were going through that little head of hers, and it was then that a less complex thought surfaced in my own head – how different cars complement different stages of our lives.
At 18, we all lust after that pocket rocket. As young adults earning our own keep, we desire something that flaunts our financial freedom and upwardly mobile lifestyle – a sports car, a coupe or perhaps a convertible. When we go the family way, two doors make way for four, two seats multiply into five, maybe even seven.
And with our parental and economic obligations eventually fulfilled, it would be time to celebrate coming full circle with something that only has room for two, provided you do not get summoned to grandparent duties.
Such is the circle of life. As we commemorate each accomplishment, beneath the jubilation is that bittersweet feeling. The best way is to treasure every precious moment as it unfolds, then commit it to memory. For life is a collection of priceless memories.
Lynn hopes she won’t have to bankroll her daughter’s dream car in the future.
