Vacuuming out my loser cruiser always puts me in my place. You see, I pride myself on being a super clean and organized person…until I look (I mean really look) at the filth that surrounds me in my ride – oh Lord the crumbs! Suddenly, the Clean Queen is choking on her big plate of humble pie.
If I was an ant, I would not waste my life breaking my back carrying 50 times my body weight in dead insects and slaving for the queen. Instead, I would take up residence in a minivan and live like a king.
I’ve heard the new Honda Odyssey comes with a vacuum cleaner installed. What took those fools so long? The Odyssey engineers obviously don’t have children or else that would have happened years ago.
Since I have to vacuum mine the old fashioned way, I wanted to share some automobile “must haves” that preserve the interior as best as it can be preserved with a pack of monkeys riding around in it.
All weather floor mats – These industrial grade mats are installed on top of the carpet and when that juice box/milk/Gatorade spills you will want to pat yourself on the back because cleaning these instead of the carpet is much more fun. When we got our minivan, we had the dealership throw them in, gratis.
Seat savers – Aren’t car seats nasty? You don’t realize how gross they get until you take them out and see all of the sticky junk that has spilled out onto the seats and the floor of your car. I have the Prince Lionheart brand underneath all 4 booster seats. [Two kids + carpool and playdates = 4 booster seats] Make sure you get the kind that can be detached into two pieces so when your child is in a backless booster, you can remove the top piece and just have something underneath the booster.
Seat back protectors – Every kid loves to kick the seat in front of them. They especially love to do it when their feet are muddy. Mine also like to use the seat backs to push into their boosters. I have the Jolly Jumper brand and have been happy with them however it looks like there are other ones that get better reviews.
Paper towels, wet wipes and grocery bags – I have a full roll of paper towels, a package of wipes and grocery bags (for trash) in the car at all times. I stuff a wad of grocery bags in an empty wipes container so they are ready for action and not floating around getting on my nerves.
I wish you much success in kid-proofing your ride and making your dining room on wheels easier to keep clean! Happy vacuuming, Smarties!
