I am very glad that I like my Mazda 3 because I have spent a lot of time waiting around in it while Reid sleeps. As anyone who has a child knows, you do not wake up a sleeping baby. Its just way too tough to get them to sleep in the first place, so, you take the sleep when you can get it. Over the past few months, both Kevin and I have spent countless hours waiting in the car. Its been anywhere from 5 minutes to over 2 hours in our own driveway, parked on a hill before Sunday brunch in San Francisco, a parking garage at the mall, in front of a friend’s house, and countless other places.
Just last weekend, our friends, the Wolosins, invited us over for dinner at their house around 5:30 PM. On the 10 minute drive over, Reid fell asleep in his car seat. So, I waited for him to wake up while Kevin went inside to join our friends. Luckily, I have learned to take reading material with me at all times. Now, it sounds like I’m making the sacrifice here by missing out on the dinner party, however, I actually looked forward to this quiet time in the car where I could read my book. (At the moment, I’m reading the infamous Asian Tiger Mom book by Amy Chua). These days, I don’t get too much down time where I get to read. In the car, its about all I can do. There are no dishes to wash, laundry to do or bills to pay. Its just me, a sleeping baby and my book. 
I had about 30-40 mins of reading my book that day… it didn’t seem like enough!
Last night, our family was meeting up with our friends the Laws for a “family night” at a nice restaurant in San Francisco. Again, Reid fell asleep in the car. Kevin volunteered to stay with him, but, I knew that he had really wanted to go to this restaurant and scheduled it with our friends. So, I spent over an hour in the car (never making it to dinner) with Reid. Kevin ended up bringing me some delicious Mac n Cheese in a to-go container in the middle of dinner. I didn’t mind a little more down time.
I read the Tiger Mom book on my way to SF — it was thought provoking. (My “kindergarten moms” crowd is book grouping it…) I’d be interested in what you think of it.
You are lucky Reid sleeps in the car — it makes for a much more flexible life! Hopefully you can keep it that way. (Josie never did once she got past about 6 months…)
@Sara: I finished the Tiger mom book a while ago and I liked it. She wasn’t that crazy of a monster. Her anger seemed a bit out of balance though. I wouldn’t choose her method of parenting, but, there is something to believing in your kids enough to not allow them to be lazy or give up too quickly.