My car is disgusting.
And it’s not just from food.
It’s everything.
I’m not good about making sure the kids take all their stuff out of it.
I’m not good about taking my stuff out either.
So in addition to the goldfish and crackers and pretzels and sippy cups, there are all the other things.
Towels and books and crayons and papers and clothes and water bottles and you name it.
A few weeks ago, I went for a run with some friends.
One of the girls stuck the key to her car in her sports bra.
She got it so sweaty that she kind of shorted it out, and she needed a ride home to get her spare.
She asked me if I could drive her. I gave her a heads up.
“Sure, but my car is disgusting. Consider yourself warned.”
She opened the passenger door.
I expected her to be polite, and say something along the lines of,
“Oh, it’s not that bad.”
But I should have known better. She’s not one to mince words.
“You’re right. It is disgusting,” she said.
She climbed into the passenger seat.
Hesitantly.
And reluctantly.
The entire time she was in the car, she leaned forward without making any contact whatsoever with the back of the seat.
That was probably the only clean part of the car, and she wouldn’t touch it.
I managed to get her home and back to her car without giving her any communicable diseases.
I was a little embarrassed by my car.
I’m going to clean this out as soon as I get home, I said to myself.
That was a fleeting thought.
It was gone before I even made it to my driveway.
A couple days later, I took the kids to the Y.
I still put Number 6 in a pull-up when I bring him there.
I don’t want to deal with him having and accident and getting pulled out of my workout to go change him.
So we pulled into the parking lot, and I was taking Numbers 5, 6, and 7 out of the car.
Of course Number 6 had taken a crap.
I used to be one of those moms who always had the well-stocked diaper bag in tow.
Everything you could ever possibly need was in that thing.
Diapers, wipes, snacks, juice boxes, extra clothes, toys, band aids, ponytail holders, bibs, tylenol…
everything.
That diaper bag is now hanging on a hook in the mudroom.
I think it has a dirty Q-tip, some sand, and a hairball in it.
These days, getting to the car is usually a free-for-all.
It’s an exercise in survival.
There’s no time for a diaper bag.
So Number 6 had a pull-up full of poo, and I had no diaper bag.
There had to be a diaper buried somewhere in the rubble of my car.
I searched.
And dug.
And searched some more.
No diaper.
No wipes.
I didn’t have time to drive home and come back.
Improvise, adapt, and overcome.
I did another sweep of the car.
In addition to Number 4’s lost library book, I found a half a bottle of seltzer and a dirty towel.
I threw Number 6 in the back of the car, poured the seltzer onto the towel, took off the pull-up, and cleaned him up.
So he’d go commando to the babysitting room.
No big deal.
As for my car,
I may get around to cleaning it.
But I think I’ll wait until all the kids are out of diapers.
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So I was in my van while I was reading your story and as soon as I pulled in my driveway I looked around and my van was disgusting!!! I didn’t really clean it right then but I did what my husband calls shinning shit. I took all of the crap ie: lose papers, reciepts and all around junk and got that stuff out of the car so it at least gives the illusion of being somewhat clean. I too never make sure the kids get all of their stuff out of the car and nor do I do it myself. I could see myself being in the same situation with giving someone a ride home so because of you cleaning out the van is now on my daily chore list. So it may get done once a week Thanks:-)
My car is known as “the rolling dumpster” You could probably feed a family of 4 for a week with the cracker crumbs alone. I do collect the papers and empty juice boxes once in a while and put them in a shopping bag. I have two full ones in the truck right now……As far as leaving things in the car…you never know when you might need them (a la your seltzer and towel).
I never thought I’d become one of those parents with a messy car because as a childless person, I kept my car pretty darn spic and span. When my daughter was a baby, it was still pretty clean. However, now that she is a toddler, I find it is just easier to let her eat in the car while I am driving to do errands. She ends up throwing the food she doesn’t want on the back seat or crumples it in her her car seat. My husband say the back of my car a few weeks ago and was disgusted. However, he is not the one who has to tote my daughter around everywhere for several hours at a time. And really, I would rather have her eating a piece of bread or rice crackers than to stop at a fast food joint to feed her that junk.
My car is filled with crap (goldfish, crackers) and sand…LOTS of sand. I can probably have a beach party in my back seat. On the way home from daycare, my girls ALWAYS take their shoes off in the car and the sand pours out like water. Anyway, I started paying my oldest daughter $1 to clean out all the papers, wrappers, toys, etc. She has found some great stuff, like my husband’s work badge and toys that have been missing for months. She loves to do it. I couple of more years and I’ll teach her how to vacuum it:-)
I told someone this once. Then I told them 4 out of 5 ain’t bad :p
My car used to be disgusting until it broke down once. It had to be towed to a shop, and the mechanic (who just happened to be a total babe) took one look at my car and had a look of complete disgust on his face. And this man was filthy. Head to toes, covered in grease. And he thought MY car was gross. When I got my car back, I cleaned it out (it looked like a brand new car), and made sure to take it back to his shop a few weeks later when it broke down again so he could see it in all it’s clean and shiny glory.
Hahaha! Good times!
You’re not the only one who has a terrible messy car. Approximately once a month, I take two bags out and put the things I shall keep in one and trash in the other. In that way, it looks neat .. for a few days 🙂