Like many moms of school-aged kids, JoAnna Garcia Swisher [Sweet Magnolias, Reba] spends a lot of her time in the car. Her daughters — Emerson, 11, and Sailor, 8 whom she shares with her husband Nick Swisher— are always off to somewhere. School, horseback riding lessons, cheer practice (“I’m officially a cheer mom!” she tells me on Zoom), but she doesn’t seem to mind too much. In fact, she relishes this time.

“Honestly, it’s my favorite time with the kids, and I talk to so many moms and dads that feel this way too,” she says. “My husband takes the kids to school in the morning and I pick up— Nick likes to pump them up for the day and gets all of their thoughts and motivation and I get the debrief on the way home because those first few minutes when they get in my car, I learn more than anything.”

So her fondness for this particular time and space made her recent partnership with Kelley Blue Book (KBB) — in connection with their list of 12 Best Family Cars of 2024 — a no-brainer.

“[Being in the car means] there’s no distractions and we’re there and it’s actual quality time,” she explains. (If you’re finding your car trips are less profound, never fear— KBB has released “Car-fessional” cards, open ended questions for your family discuss on your next drive. You can find them pinned on their Instagram profile.)

These daily conversations have also allowed the mom and actress to realize that even though her girls are only three years apart, the space between “11-year-old tween” and “still-a-kid 8” are profound.

“They’re both in very different stages,” she says. “And I don’t know that I would’ve said that a year ago … Emerson is fully in her tween era where conversations are different and things are changing and it’s really, actually…” there’s a little pause. “I didn’t know what I would think of this because when they grow up they grow up so fast. But I always want to keep them my baby.”

But babies don’t have the kind of “meaningful and thoughtful” conversations her eldest is now having. As much as she misses that baby phase, this new one is fascinating and beautiful.

“You can see her putting things together and how she views the world. And it’s just really interesting. … She’s really kind of come into this new confident little young woman and it’s just really sweet to see. And I am very excited for her.”

And Sailor, in the tradition of little sisters can’t wait to catch up.

But that’s not to say the sisters don’t have anything in common anymore. They both, for example, love watching their mom’s TV shows and movies.

“The stuff that I’ve done is pretty family friendly!” she says brightly. “They watched most of Sweet Magnolias, and they just got into Reba because it’s on Netflix.”

The faces are familiar. Garcia Swisher is still close with much of the cast of the show, and her girls have grown up with them as a sort of extended family. “It was exciting for them to see the people that they love so much that spoil them and love on them, see us all together… and me with blonde hair, that was also a highlight for them.”

Next up? Possibly Are You Afraid of the Dark, which Garcia Swisher was in when she was just a little bit older than Emerson. Maybe they can stream a few episodes together on their next road trip…