Dirty Little Secrets

Before kids, I used to turn my nose up at dirty coats, dirty lovies, and dirty cars. How on earth does a kid's coat get so filthy? And how does a beloved stuffed animal get SO disgusting?! Oh, how fabulous my words taste now. It's hard enough to keep kids' coats clean--but then Stinkus uses hers as a napkin if it's draped on the back of her chair when we go out to eat. Unfortunately, I never remember she does this until we're out in public and she has big greasy handprints all over it. Lovely. And now I understand why all those lovies I used to see were so gross--they were loved. We have one lovey whose tag has been completely rubbed off (where exactly did it go?) and Day-day just STINKS. And then my poor car. . . I'm almost afraid of what I would suck up if I ever decided to drag the Shop Vac out. Dropped Goldfish, broken crayons, plastic rings, smashed Trix, and don't even get me started on the crumbs. And let's not forget the entire cup of milk that was spilled down behind the backseat--without a way to get to it. We drove everywhere with the windows down for WEEKS. It's the car I always swore I would never have.

But in my defense, it's hard to clean. We love our SUV, with one exception: if you drop anything between the seats and the console, you can kiss it goodbye. I've spent way too many minutes of my life trying to squeeze my hand down there to retrieve some coveted object. I'm almost convinced that we're broke because there HAS to be at least a million dollars down there we've dropped. :) So today, after work, when I was sitting in my car, ready to pull out, and my keys were missing--there was only one place they could be. So I took a deep breath, tried to make my fingers skinnier (it doesn't work) and plunged my hand down. First object found: a Sonic tator tot from last week that didn't look too bad... No, I didn't. But I was shocked at how good it looked--artificial preservatives at their best! Three tator tots later, the keys were found and Sassy was giggling uncontrollably at me.

Me: Big sigh. "Why is our life SO crazy?!"
Sassy: "I don't know!" Big giggles. "But it sure is fun."

Amen, sister. Now to find that million dollars.