In Defense of a Messy Car

It's embarrassing how messy my car gets. I know I need to establish better habits, and I should probably just go clean it out right now, but I'm going to blog about it instead. Here's how it gets so bad:

At the end of shopping trips I tend to leave non-perishable groceries and other newly-purchased items in the car, because I've just been out shopping and I'm tired and I tell myself I'll bring them in later when I have more energy.

Or, we go on outings and I load the car up with things we'll need, but when it's time to unload them (and the other junk we've accumulated on such outings), well, we've been on an outing all day, for goodness sake, I'll do it later.

HOWEVER, you never know when it might come in handy to have a messy car.

Like when you're not at home and your kids are hungry, you just happen to still have, in the car, 5 boxes of cereal that you bought at Smith's two days ago (along with 2 bottles of ketchup and a case of soup cans).

Baby soiled his outfit (or discarded his socks) at the park? No worries, you're bound to find something he can wear. Probably the Sunday clothes you changed him out of at Grandma's last week.

Maybe you show up to your daughter's first soccer game, and realize her shin guards are sitting at home on the counter. Having a messy car means you can improvise using stuff you find in your cupholders and under the seats.

Improvised Homemade Shin Guard Tutorial

Materials:

• Scissors (from the last time you wrapped a present on the way to a party)
• 2 20-ounce soda cups (from your last trip to the Costco food court)
• 1 (unused) diaper - ours just happened to be a Little Mermaid swimming diaper that has been in the car since the last time we went to a pool (September?)

1. Cut the 2 cups in half, removing the bottom.

2. Cut out the padded middle of the diaper, and cut it in half to make 2 rectangles.

3. Sandwich the diaper padding between two soda cup halves.

4. Pull the soccer socks all the way up, place your "shin-guard" on the shin, and fold the top of the sock down to cover it. Tuck the edge of the sock under the bottom edge of the "shin-guard" to hold everything in place.

5. Assure your daughter that nobody will even notice that her shin-guards are Coca-Cola brand.

Okay, so my messy car sometimes has its merits, but here's my question. Do you have a set time for car cleaning? Are you good about unloading stuff after every outing (or shopping trip)? How do you keep your car clean, or clean enough? I really wanna know!

April Fool's Day Recap

All day long I heard (from both girls), "Mom, there's a real spider on your back... April Fools!"

I switched the label from a can of green beans to a can of pears, and vice versa, then asked Elise to help me open them for dinner. She didn't suspect it was me, but thought maybe the grocery store had played a trick on us... but how did they know we would open THESE cans on THIS day???

My brother Alan thought of a funny trick to play on my mom, and called to ask for my help. I made a fake email account, and sent her a (quite convincing) email "from" her favorite Facebook application. It said she had won a ridiculous amount of "favor points" by being their most loyal player. Unfortunately she was out most of the day and didn't see it until the next day, darnit!

Elise asked me to help her put a gummy worm in an apple for Lydia.

I drove Mike's car to the grocery store (to buy gummy worms). On the way home, I called and tried to convince him it ran out of gas and he needed to bring me a gas can. I am a bad liar, he saw right through it!

But my favorite of the day was this lovely little note from Elise:

Finding the Humor

I went to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago for my cousin. As the mom-to-be opened gifts, the gift-givers shared advice about motherhood. Her aunt had some very sage advice: find the humor. If your kid gives herself a horrible haircut, take a picture so you can laugh later.

That advice came back to me this morning while I was tending my nieces. Savannah, who's 3, had been playing quietly in the corner. When I walked past, she jumped and started explaining herself cheerfully. She was "just giving this horse a haircut because its hair was too long." Scissors in hand, fur EVERYWHERE, half bald rocking horse (why couldn't it have been a cheap My Little Pony?). I flipped out, took the scissors away (where did she find them anyway?) and plopped her in time out, all the time yelling "Oh my GOSH! I am SO MAD! Why would you DO that!" (Sorry Cindy, I yelled at your daughter, but at least I didn't spank her!)

After I called Mike and calmed down, I decided to take a picture and find the humor. Remorseful little Savannah probably had no idea why I wanted her to go back in the corner with the horse and pose for this. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do justice to the horse's bad haircut.

Funny Elise

"My eyes are closed, but I can still see you!"