(Listening to “Ferry Boat #3” by Chris Cornell)

If one or more of your cars look like this…

…then you might have kids.

It just comes with the territory.  In the picture above, there are milk splatters, broken gold fish, pulverized animal crackers, raisins, stray french fries, and abandoned veggie straws.  It’s just what kids do.  Littles is alright with food in the car, but Tiny, she has no regard for a clean car.  Her actual mission in life is to make a mess, and smile while doing it.

The wife’s car bears the brunt of the damage because it’s the workhorse.  The kids spend the most time in that car.  They ride in my car, but it’s usually to drop them off or pick them up from childcare.  Since it’s a 5 minute drive, it usually doesn’t require snacks or milk, so the cleanliness of my car stays intact.  When I am home with them, we’re usually staying put, save for the occasional going out for lunch or a trip to the hardware store.  Again, not enough time to cause any significant trauma to the tidiness.

The wife, on the other hand, takes the kids everywhere in her car.  She’ll run multiple errands, make trips to the grocery store, and take the kids on play dates; all requiring lots of time and snacks, and the occasional drive-thru lunch.  After a while, the kids take their toll.  There are crumbs everywhere, dirt from the park, a plethora of toys the kids couldn’t leave home without, wrappers from snacks tucked away in the door panels, and the car starts smelling funky due to a rogue sippy-cup or something.

That’s where I come in.  I’ll drive the wife’s car to fill it with gas, take it to get repaired, or just drive it to make sure nothing is wrong, since it does carry precious payload, and I’ll think, “Whoa, this needs to be cleaned.”  So today, that’s what I did.

I had the day off today and the wife had a play date set up with a friend of hers; a girls only deal, so she asked me if I would clean her car while they were gone.  She knows I love to clean cars.  I know acts of service are her love language.  Winner, winner chicken dinner.  So, while they were doing this…

…I was doing this.

I love to clean cars.  I always have.  I have no statistical evidence to back this up, but a clean car runs better.  Plus, there are few things better than getting behind the wheel of a freshly cleaned car.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given someone a ride and they’ll get in and say, “Wow, your car is really clean.”  I’ve always been that way, ever since my first car in high school, although I can’t really put my finger on why.  I know part of the reason is because my dad taught me to take care of my things, especially my car.  I think the other part of the reason is you never know who you’re going to give a ride to.  In high school, maybe a girl I liked would ask me for a ride somewhere.  That didn’t happen much, but I had to be ready in case it did. I couldn’t open the door and have to push away clothes, fast good bags, or pop cans, and be like, “Uh…here you go.”  What kind of an impression is that?  As I got older, maybe I’d have to give a coworker a ride home, or even a boss.  I didn’t want them thinking I was a slob.  I guess I’ve just always thought a car could make an impression on someone, so no matter what car I drove and no matter what shape it was in, my car has always been clean.  To this day, I’m still a bit anal about my cars.  If a french fry falls down a crack, I get it.  If change rolls out of my pocket and under the seat, I’ll get it.  Any trash in my car gets taken out after the trip.  Like I said, you never know who you’re going to give a ride.

Now the wife, she was the cute girl in high school.  I didn’t know her then, but I was curious about what was in her car in high school.  Tonight I said to her, “When you were in high school, I bet you had your cheerleading clothes in your car, your books and stuff like that.”  She said, “Oh yeah, and my work outfit.”  This is what I love about her.  She’s type A.  She’s a planner.  She’s ready for any situation, and she is still that way.  She does a lot of things for our family, so she’s always prepared and always multi-tasking.  If I went into her car on any given day, I’d find a yoga mat and a towel, a blanket, maybe her laptop, her doula bag, a diaper bag, her coffee cup, and maybe a couple of dishes because she had to get the kids ready and took breakfast on the run.  Add all that up, plus the damage of the human tornadoes, a.k.a. our kids, and she deserves to have a clean car.

I clean her car to show her how much I appreciate the things she does for our family.  It speaks to her love language and fills her love tank.  I love it when she gets in her car for the first time after I’m done cleaning it.  Her reaction gives me all the thanks I need, even though she makes sure to say it too.  Plus, it’s always fun to back the car into the driveway on a sunny day, turn up the radio, haul out the vacuum, and get out the cleaning supplies, just like I would have done for a date when I was 18.  The last date I went on has lasted 9 wonderful years, and yes, my car is still clean…and so is hers.