Car Clutter

I keep an ongoing list of "odd jobs" that I get to do in order. These are things that need doing, but are not urgent, such as cleaning out the hall closet or organizing the junk drawer. The list keeps me from feeling overwhelmed at the number of things I need to do - I have permission to forget about a task once it's on my list. It also keeps me from putting jobs off for too long, since I have to do it before I can move on to other jobs.

If it weren't on my list, I might have put off cleaning out my car for a few more weeks. But once I did, I loved it. I underestimate the time I spend in my car, and having a clean space can make all the difference in terms of smiling and relaxing. Once clean, I promised myself I would do better. From now on, I thought, I will keep my car this clean All The Time!

The thing is, I am not the only one in my car. There are little boys in the back who bring things into the car, leave them in the car, and eat things in the car. And as my brother Winston once said, as I handed him some crackers to feed to a toddler in the back seat, "Should I give them to Nick, or just crumble them right onto the floor?"

I started Wednesday morning with a clean car, but that day the boys had school, we had library story hour, and Nick had his piano lesson. By the time we got home that afternoon I had to make several trips to bring in the backpacks, art projects, the container of leftover food from lunch, the juice boxes from snack, a bag of library books, the trick-or-treat bags Nate made at story-hour, the halloween costume Nate brought with him to Story-hour, Nick's piano music, Nick's jacket, and the toys the kids took with them to Nick's Piano lesson, and the bag that I keep my wallet and keys in.

No wonder the car gets so cluttered.