Order in the Car

I'm a slight stickler for organisation. (And all who know me will smirk at my use of "slight"). Ok. I'm an organisational nut. Organising is what I do, and what I love to do. No huge surprise that I like order in the car too. This is the way I do it.

I've introduced a toy box to the car. It sits neatly between the car seats (hasn't yet fallen off either), full of books and little toys and clean drawing equipment. I did this when we started talking about putting a DVD player and screens into the front head rests for the kids to use on long drives. I knew, however, that once we did this, it would never just be for long drives. If the tv was there, they would want it on whether it was a two hour drive or a two minute one.

I don't mind them watching tv at home, because I can justify it with a good balance of outings and outdoor stimulation, so I really didn't want tv following us out of the house.

The plan has worked. They're no longer bored in the car, they have long conversations in the back and share toys back and forth. It seems to work.

There are, of course, seat protectors for dusty, sandy feet, and tucked behind them, they each have a blanket in case the AC gets too cold. Emily recently added a pillow for when she wants to nap in her booster seat, although she never uses it and it inevitably ends up on the floor somewhere.

The car bin has been a huge help in keeping the whole place clean. I have a small stash of plastic bags in the middle console as garbage bags so I can empty it easily whenever it gets full.

Not pictured, but in the back of the car there is a also large plastic box that contains random stuff like reflective covers for the car seats, an emergency potty, baby wipes, a towel, bottle of water, spare pair of flip flops for me, a ball, picnic blanket... and bubbles. Priorities.