Our Travelling Home: And It Ain’t Pretty

This Is Our Traveling Home, and It Ain’t Pretty.

Welcome to my car. This precious vehicle is our family’s traveling home. It is our dumping ground. It is also our shelter for sporting equipment, our trash can on wheels, and our means to entertain and fuel ourselves on the road. It ain’t pretty.

Upon entering the car, you might be curious as to what the lingering and strange smell is, and, to be honest, it’s complicated. It’s most likely the apple core that my son just put on the center console after eating, or the green smoothie that my toddler spilled on the carpet last week? It could be a combination of the dirty diapers in the ziploc on the front seat (I could have sworn I threw those away yesterday), and the smelly soccer cleats that lay on the floor in the back seat? Or maybe it is just the fact that I haven’t bathed the kids in a few days?   

Allison Gagnon- Choicelunch

Aside from the smell, the car is also quite a sight. That is, if you can even see the seats or the floor. We have 1 full size car seat, and 4 booster seats across the 2nd and 3rd row. In between these lovely contraptions, you might find several books, some discarded snacks, and surely some Hotwheel cars. On the floor at any given time, you’ll find at least three backpacks, several sweaters or sweatshirts, a few soccer and/or basketballs, and some bags of things that I am likely transporting to another mom/handing down to a family member/donating to the needy/just bought. And this isn’t even counting the trunk. That is solely reserved for our stroller, random bikes or scooters and helmets for an outing, reusable shopping bags, and umbrellas.

The necessities, you know?

While waiting for my daughter to finish her choir practice the other day, it struck me. My car, our home away from home, could likely keep us alive for several days in a natural disaster. Think about it! We have enough snacks to feed a small village, and we could even just pick up all the cheerios under the carseat to provide a few meals if need be. We have plus or minus 13 water bottles, a first aid kit, and a bottle of Kids Tylenol in the door pocket if anyone gets sick. There are diapers, tampons, dish towels, and a few blankets in the backseat because it was REALLY cold the other morning, and my Kindergartener refused to get in the car without them. We’ve got scissors, hand sanitizer, a box of Kleenex, unpaid bills, and a plethora of sporting equipment, books, CDs, and toys to keep us really entertained. And let’s not forget the Legos! Oh, the creativity that we could tap into in our moment of need!

See! My car, our traveling home, could be NECESSARY for our survival!

Moms and Dads, I know that some of you have the incredible, and seemingly Herculean ability to keep your cars spotless, and many of you HAVE CHILDREN! How you do this is beyond me. I do often take steps to clean this little microcosm out every once in awhile, but it is usually only a few days before it’s back to its “real” self again. How many of you have cleaned out your cars, exclaiming, “No eating in the car from here on out!’? Or “Everyone is responsible for carrying the entirety of his or her possessions out of the car each and every time we enter the house.”? Let me guess…about 3 hours later, when your toddler is screaming of hunger, suddenly they have a rice cake in hand, shedding little pebbles of puffed rice ALL. OVER. THE. FLOOR. That is, if you can even see the floor three hours later. In those 3 hours, you did pick up your remaining kids from school, and deposited one child at softball practice. LOTS can happen very quickly to undo the beautification that you worked so hard to institute.

Deep breath.

Everyone is all about New Year’s resolutions lately. This year, I am resolving to embrace my vehicle, our home away from home. Instead of fighting it, I will embrace the mess that it is, and the fact that it allows me and my family of six to do all of the wonderful things we do on a daily basis, and to have everything we need when we do those things. This lovely home on wheels takes us to school, to all of our activities, to our friends and family, and on the most soul-saving of adventures near and far from home. It provides a place to be together in close quarters and a shelter to spend time together. And maybe, just maybe, it could at some point truly save us. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.

Embrace your traveling homes, you warriors!

 

Hello There!

My name is Allison! Nurturer Of 4 Remarkable Littles / Married To My Own Modern Day Prince Charming / California Born And Raised / Adventure Seeker / Nature Enthusiast / Memory Maker / Food / Wine / Fashion / Sleep

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