"The 5 car features that elevate my day from mundane to fancy-pants."

Being a mum is hard, on that we can all agree. Being a mum in a car is even more difficult, to that I can personally attest.

Picture this, my children and I have to go to swimming lessons.

I pack their bags, carefully checking I have everything they need as I go, throw them in the boot, turn the car on a few minutes before we leave (because it is a hot day and I need to cool it down), get in the car and start driving.

My daughter decides she’s thirsty. I don’t have any cold water. My son won’t let my other son watch the video on his device. They argue. I breathe deeply, letting the cool air blow all over my face as I try and stay as calm as possible.

There’s a good song on the radio. We all go quiet for a few minutes.

I encourage them to start playing a game of “Spotto/Snotto” where each green car (Spotto) gets two points and each yellow car (Snotto) gets four points.

We arrive at swimming. Finally.

That happens once, twice, sometimes three times a day. My car isn’t just a car. It is our home away from home. So when it comes to staying calm and getting everything necessary done, it’s all about those awesome little features some cars come with these days. The things you wouldn’t even think of until you needed them at that crucial moment.

After owning a Hyundai Santa Fe, these are the features  I can no longer live without.

Heated seats.

There’s a reason Goldilocks is such a popular children’s story. It’s because all children are Goldilocks. It’s always too hot or too cold and each of them have a different temperature preference. Heated seating is perfect for warming up grizzly children on a winter morning school run. My Santa Fe comes with heated seats in the front and back.

Cooled glove box space.

Our glove box is like a minibar in our car. We have wet wipes, tissues and chewing gum in there at all times, as well as all of the kid’s sunglasses for extra glary days. The mints are for those mornings when the kids forget to brush their teeth. Seriously, they still forget to do it.

Towing capacity.

I never gave a thought to towing anything until I met my husband and his fancy jet ski. Now that we have kids, we tow a trailer full of skateboards and bikes and anything else the kids might need for a trip to the park or even a holiday away. My Santa Fe has a 2000kg towing capacity which is ample for what we need.

Panorama roof.

You wouldn’t believe it but the sunroof in my Santa Fe has saved us from so many family arguments. Not only is it an excellent distraction for the kids, if any of us open our side windows (blowing wind on the person in the back seat who might not want it) using the sunroof is a simple solution. It also means our iSpy games have been kicked up a level.

Sat Nav.

Crucial for all of the weekend birthday parties, in God knows where, that I have to take the kids to each weekend. And we’re always running late so at least now I don’t need to factor in time to “find it”.

Reverse Camera and forward collision warning.

I don’t know how I used to drive without an extra pair of eyes warning and guiding me in and out of car spots. Long gone is my dread of trying to reverse park into a spot with kids screaming in the back, and an audience of people watching me.

Whether it’s a dash down the road for a bottle of milk or a family holiday down the coast – these are car features that keep my whole family happy.And I could never live (or drive) with out them again.

What car features do you swear by?