A few days ago as my son and I were waiting in the car for my daughter to come out of a sports practice, I was reading a magazine. I didn't bring any snacks for him, so when I heard him eating something, I knew I better check that one out!! When I asked him what he was eating, he said, "pretzel!!" He had reached under the seat and found a part of a pretzel to nibble on. Yuck! I don't think it was too old, maybe about a week, because I remember taking some pretzels in a baggie in the car about a week or so ago. I guess the one he found must have fell out of the bag! Growing up my dad had a rule that you couldn't eat or drink in the car. If I took a poll of ten of my friends of when the last time they or someone in their car ate or drank something in the past day, I bet all ten of them would say yes! Times have really changed. Families are so busy these days going from one activity to another that in the car is sometimes the only time they can grab a quick bite. Cars have become a multipurpose vehicle. Our van has moved furniture, been slept in, eaten in, drank in, and barfed in (I know, disgusting, but it's happened). A couple years ago while on a long car ride, my little guy reached under the seat and found a long, lost library book. The fine for the book had been paid at least a year prior to that. The hubby was like, "maybe you should clean out the car once in a while!" I do try and keep our van clean, but it definitely is a constant battle. He drives around a two-door car and 95% of the time he is the only occupant. On this blog a handful of months ago, I wrote about my huge purse and how when I clean it out I find things I forgot were in there. I think I probably need to start doing that with our van. Who knows what I'll find?? I would be curious to hear from other moms how often you clean out your car after hauling your kids around. Is it daily, weekly, monthly???
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
There used to be a joke about selling your car when the ashtrays got full because that was easier than emptying them. I am sure every mom today could fill a trash can if they only had the time to clean out the car. Why is we have hands to bring something to the car, but none to take away the trash. Maybe try taking one thing out of the car every day that does not belong there. Just a thought. Auntie
ReplyDeleteI'll have to remember your idea - it's a good one. Dominic didn't think anything about it when he ate that pretzel. He had a big smile on his face!
ReplyDeleteI do recall Dad being strict about food and drinks in the car. Now I eat and drink in mine all the time, trying to draw the line only at messy stuff (like tacos).
ReplyDeleteBob
Your car is a lot more cleaner than mine! I suppose tacos would be a little messy :)
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