Post by dana06 on Apr 6, 2009 7:52:47 GMT -4
A soccer mom — and proud of it
Radio host traded in her VW Golf for a Toyota Sienna. 'What it says is my kids are one of the biggest priorities of my life'
PETRINA GENTILE
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
March 19, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT
Music is the centre of Kim Stockwood's world. And even though she's taking a break from her singing career, you can still hear her on the radio.
Stockwood co-hosts The Morning Show on Toronto's 97.3 EZ Rock, a the gig she landed about eight months ago. She made another big change at about the same time; she dumped her Volkswagen Golf for a soccer-mom ride — a 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan.
"I broke down. I have a 5-1/2- and a 3-1/2-year-old boy. My husband is 6-foot-4 so both of them are gigantic kids. We agreed maybe we should do a minivan."
Stockwood isn't worried about minivan stereotypes. "I think that's why people are afraid to get minivans cause it says you're a soccer mom.
"But I'm embracing that part of my personality. My husband and I have another sexy car, so when we go out at night we take the Bimmer.
"I think the minivan says I want to enjoy my kids and I want them to be able to have friends," says the native of Newfoundland.
"My husband actually was the one who was trying to convince me to get it. My parents live in Newfoundland and he said, 'You know when your parents come, they can ride in it, too. We don't have to take two cars — we can all go together.'
"It seats seven — that is fantastic. For the kids, their friends and my parents," says Stockwood, who released records with the pop group Shaye as well as solo recordings. The song Jerk was her first big hit in 1996.
"We just really liked the Sienna. It's a great van. The BMW is our sexy car — not that the minivan can't be sexy," she laughs.
Stockwood isn't a car nut; she doesn't even know the model of her Bimmer. Later, she e-mails me the info — it's a BMW 323.
While space is a big selling point for the Sienna, there are smaller details she appreciates, too.
"The sliding doors are fantastic for kids because I open them and they just jump in. That's so convenient."
But other features are a bit too technical for her tastes. "I'm just learning about the GPS now, which is pretty fantastic. But there are so many things to learn with the GPS and the manual is about 5,000 pages!
"Maybe it's just me. I'm sounding like a girl, but sometimes it's a lot more complicated than it should be.
"For sure a girl did not invent the GPS — we would have totally made it a lot simpler. And the woman that speaks to me gets on my nerves so I have to turn her off a lot."
The rear-view camera, on the other hand, is extremely useful. "Parking is the toughest thing. I was parking a Golf and now I'm parking a bus.
"I'm a little person and it's really hard parking sometimes — it's so long. It might have been a woman who invented the rear-view camera — definitely not the GPS system — but probably the backup camera. That is glorious!" she says excitedly.
Before the Sienna, Stockwood was a "hard-core Volkswagen girl."
Her VW Golf was "one of the best cars I ever had." But her VW Cabriolet convertible was her favourite.
"You go through stages of your life. The minivan is beautiful and fantastic, but what it says is my kids are one of the biggest priorities of my life.
"But there was something about that white Cabriolet that made me feel like this is who I am. People always say you choose a car that represents your personality and that would have been pretty close to my personality."
Growing up, Stockwood drove several GM cars — a Chevette, a Corsica and a Cavalier — her dad was a finance manger at GM in Newfoundland.
"When I first got my licence, oh man, I used to whip around St. John's in that little Chevette. It was so tiny, but it had four doors. I loved that speedy little jelly bean!"
One of her most memorable road trips was touring Canada in a Ford Explorer SUV.
"Seriously, we drove in the middle of winter right across the country; it was the most horrifying drive. In Winnipeg, the car flew right off the road and stopped about 15 feet from a train track!
"It got us right across the country and back. And just outside of Barrie, we had a problem with the tire — we had to go into a gas station and get the tire changed … After being in the SUV for about three weeks, we almost died one hour outside of Toronto! But we were fine," says the 43-year-old singer and songwriter.
Stockwood won't part with her Sienna, but she wants her hubby to dump the BMW. "The Bimmer we have right now is a standard and I don't drive a standard.
"There will never be a standard automobile in our family again! I gave up my Golf almost a year ago for the minivan and I'd like to be able to drive the sexy car, too.
"We will get another car when we sell my husband's BMW. We're not sure what it will be. I do know it will be automatic and very sexy!"
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090319.whMyCarStockwood0319/BNStory/specialGlobeAuto/
Radio host traded in her VW Golf for a Toyota Sienna. 'What it says is my kids are one of the biggest priorities of my life'
PETRINA GENTILE
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
March 19, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT
Music is the centre of Kim Stockwood's world. And even though she's taking a break from her singing career, you can still hear her on the radio.
Stockwood co-hosts The Morning Show on Toronto's 97.3 EZ Rock, a the gig she landed about eight months ago. She made another big change at about the same time; she dumped her Volkswagen Golf for a soccer-mom ride — a 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan.
"I broke down. I have a 5-1/2- and a 3-1/2-year-old boy. My husband is 6-foot-4 so both of them are gigantic kids. We agreed maybe we should do a minivan."
Stockwood isn't worried about minivan stereotypes. "I think that's why people are afraid to get minivans cause it says you're a soccer mom.
"But I'm embracing that part of my personality. My husband and I have another sexy car, so when we go out at night we take the Bimmer.
"I think the minivan says I want to enjoy my kids and I want them to be able to have friends," says the native of Newfoundland.
"My husband actually was the one who was trying to convince me to get it. My parents live in Newfoundland and he said, 'You know when your parents come, they can ride in it, too. We don't have to take two cars — we can all go together.'
"It seats seven — that is fantastic. For the kids, their friends and my parents," says Stockwood, who released records with the pop group Shaye as well as solo recordings. The song Jerk was her first big hit in 1996.
"We just really liked the Sienna. It's a great van. The BMW is our sexy car — not that the minivan can't be sexy," she laughs.
Stockwood isn't a car nut; she doesn't even know the model of her Bimmer. Later, she e-mails me the info — it's a BMW 323.
While space is a big selling point for the Sienna, there are smaller details she appreciates, too.
"The sliding doors are fantastic for kids because I open them and they just jump in. That's so convenient."
But other features are a bit too technical for her tastes. "I'm just learning about the GPS now, which is pretty fantastic. But there are so many things to learn with the GPS and the manual is about 5,000 pages!
"Maybe it's just me. I'm sounding like a girl, but sometimes it's a lot more complicated than it should be.
"For sure a girl did not invent the GPS — we would have totally made it a lot simpler. And the woman that speaks to me gets on my nerves so I have to turn her off a lot."
The rear-view camera, on the other hand, is extremely useful. "Parking is the toughest thing. I was parking a Golf and now I'm parking a bus.
"I'm a little person and it's really hard parking sometimes — it's so long. It might have been a woman who invented the rear-view camera — definitely not the GPS system — but probably the backup camera. That is glorious!" she says excitedly.
Before the Sienna, Stockwood was a "hard-core Volkswagen girl."
Her VW Golf was "one of the best cars I ever had." But her VW Cabriolet convertible was her favourite.
"You go through stages of your life. The minivan is beautiful and fantastic, but what it says is my kids are one of the biggest priorities of my life.
"But there was something about that white Cabriolet that made me feel like this is who I am. People always say you choose a car that represents your personality and that would have been pretty close to my personality."
Growing up, Stockwood drove several GM cars — a Chevette, a Corsica and a Cavalier — her dad was a finance manger at GM in Newfoundland.
"When I first got my licence, oh man, I used to whip around St. John's in that little Chevette. It was so tiny, but it had four doors. I loved that speedy little jelly bean!"
One of her most memorable road trips was touring Canada in a Ford Explorer SUV.
"Seriously, we drove in the middle of winter right across the country; it was the most horrifying drive. In Winnipeg, the car flew right off the road and stopped about 15 feet from a train track!
"It got us right across the country and back. And just outside of Barrie, we had a problem with the tire — we had to go into a gas station and get the tire changed … After being in the SUV for about three weeks, we almost died one hour outside of Toronto! But we were fine," says the 43-year-old singer and songwriter.
Stockwood won't part with her Sienna, but she wants her hubby to dump the BMW. "The Bimmer we have right now is a standard and I don't drive a standard.
"There will never be a standard automobile in our family again! I gave up my Golf almost a year ago for the minivan and I'd like to be able to drive the sexy car, too.
"We will get another car when we sell my husband's BMW. We're not sure what it will be. I do know it will be automatic and very sexy!"
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090319.whMyCarStockwood0319/BNStory/specialGlobeAuto/