There are innumerable problems with our Subaru. Well, actually, I could enumerate them.

Fog lamps gone. Air conditioner shot because the belt started cutting into some engine shielding before shredding. Heat shield loose. Various dash lights out. Hood-open lever hasn’t been working. Interior trim missing on frame member between windshield and driver door. Opening trunk door doesn’t turn on interior lights…. and on and on. This is what happens with a 200,000 mile car.

But to address the claim that our car is making Siena strong, we aren’t talking about building mental fortitude by dealing with adverse conditions. No, we’re talking raw, biological strength.

Obviously for years Siena has been getting herself into and out of the car and her booster seat without my assistance. And because I’ve only been helping Thalia (whose door is still child-locked), I hadn’t had to open and close Siena’s door for a very long time.

So when I did open the door recently to clean the car (the prior sentence provides incriminating evidence that cleaning is a rare event indeed), I discovered I could add one more item to the list of car problems: Her door is stiff and very difficult to close. It requires a lot more than the normal arm strength.

Siena flings that thing shut every day like she’s whacking a 450-foot home run.