I don’t know how to drive. And quite honestly, I have no desire to learn. I am content sitting in the passenger seat while Joseph drives.
You can check out his post: Atypical Dad Shares What He Loves About Driving the Kia Soul
But just because I don’t know how to drive, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate all the amenities of the Kia Soul – like the leg room, sound system (perfect for belting out your favorite road trip toons) and the double moon roof.
I think the passenger’s opinion is just as valuable as the driver.
Especially when it’s a family car – a family car needs to cater to and impress everyone, not just the driver.
The Kia Soul definitely met our family of 3 needs.
My son loved the comfortable back seat and soft leather interior.
My husband was impressed by the advanced technology. And what I loved most about the Kia Soul was the visibility it provided – I felt like I could see so much more beyond the road ahead.
As a busy working mom and blogger, I spend my time in the passenger seat multi-tasking, scrolling through my phone – updating my social media feeds, checking emails or editing pictures. I don’t have time to look out the window. And as a jaded native New Yorker – there’s rarely anything out the window I haven’t seen before.
But last week while on vacation, I took the time to slow down. There was no need to be on a schedule. I wasn’t as diligent with my emails and I tried to stay off social media.
Maybe it was because I was sitting in a 2014 Kia Soul or the allure of being in another state or maybe it was feeling the warmth of the sun through the double moon roof. Whatever it was, I was happy to just sit in the passenger seat and look out the window or up at the sky through the amazing double moon roof, taking in the view.
I made my 8 year old son, Norrin, do the same. Usually during long drives, we give him his iPad and he’s happy playing games, scrolling through photos or watching videos.
While on vacation, I limited his screen time in the car. “Look out the window!” I’d tell him and point out things for him to see. We were someplace new and I wanted him to be aware of his surroundings, to appreciate it the way I did.
I remember family road trips, where I buried my head in a book until we arrived at our destination, where I’d sulk in my preteen angst until it was time to leave. My mother nagged me to put the book down, to look out the window and enjoy the scenery. Another reminder of how I am becoming my mother, trying to instill the same life lesson of looking out the window.
Looking out the window last week, I had time to reflect on our last six years of Norrin’s autism diagnosis. How Norrin had a major meltdown in the Magic Kingdom. How I’ve come a long since the day he was diagnosed with autism. Or how our day-to-day may feel so normal to us, yet when taken out of routine – we are so obviously different.
Related: Atypical is Our Normal
I needed that time, to stare out the window and be okay with being different, to accept autism all over again. Sitting in the car, listening to the radio, looking out the window moving from one destination to the next – we were like any other family on a vacation. And I let the scenery and that moment of parental normalcy soothe me.
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