Where Does Your Minivan Live?

Mine does not live in a garage. I think that Detroit and Japan and ever other place that makes these  workhorses thinks that all Mom has to do is walk from her Suburban home, into the garage, open the door and drive away.

Some of us live in a city and park on a street and when the nights are (^&$^&&*%$$#%$&* COLD there is ice and frost on the windows that has to be scraped. Yes, the defrost helps to melt some of this but I can't let my car run by itself unattended. That would be insane. Can you just imagine the call to my insurance company when I tell them that my car is missing.

• "Well, ma'am, where did you leave it?" 
• "Oh, I left it running in front of my house with the keys in it so that I could go back inside and stay warm and let the defrost melt the frost off my windshield."
• [crickets]

That's not entirely fair to my neighborhood because it is a wonderful place but seriously who leaves their car unattended with the keys in it and running and assumes that it'll be there when they come back? So, let's just move on.

The point I'm trying to make is that the windshield is too high and wide for me.

Now, for those of you who haven't met me in person and think I might be a petite woman of about five foot two - first of all, God Bless you:), but second of all, I'm sorry to disappoint. I'm five foot eight and hale and hearty from years of childhood sports. I have a good reach, but apparently you have to be a freaking albatross to reach the middle of the windshield of a minivan and you definitely have to be taller than 5'8".

One solution might be a scraper with a longer handle. I thought of this. I did. This morning while I had my body flush up against my car and the radio antennae flipping about my head. This will help some but I worry about leverage. I think there will still be the section in the very middle and around the rear view mirror that I won't be able to reach but perhaps by the time I scrape everything else the defrost will have gotten to that part. Worst come to worst I'll just have to take my time and learn that this is just part of living in the city. It's part of the character of the neighborhood. Or I can bring the kidlets step stool from the bathroom and wouldn't that be cute.