How To Keep Your Car Tidy with Children

Trying to keep a car tidy when you have children is a chore in itself. Oftentimes you can feel defeated in this venture. Keeping a set of guidelines in place will help you learn how to maintain day-to-day cleanliness.

• No Food or Drinks in the Car
  Who has not had the delightful experience of finding dried up French fries under the car seat or empty soda can under the driver's seat? Controlling this problem is easily handled by designating a no food or drink policy in the car.
• No Standing on the Seats
  Every so often, you'll find a big footprint right in the middle of the seat. Tell the children that standing on the car seats will not be allowed. Feet or shoes should also not be propped up on the dashboard or out the windows. And yes, this does happen.
• No Writing on the Windows
  All kids like to make palm"‘footprints" or write messages on the car windows. This is fun at first but once it dries it looks awful. Make sure to keep some sort of window cleaner stored in the car if this does happen. Sometimes it is just too tempting!
• Keep Items Organized
  Small children like to take toys with them when they travel in the car. Parents don't mind because it helps keep the children occupied. Have a container available to store all the items when the children are not using them. With the use of DVD and CD players in the cars, there may be a lot of extra items that need an area to call home.
• Throw Away All Garbage
  Do not allow kids to throw garbage on the floor of the car. This should not be much of a problem if the No Food Rule is in effect. Yet, sometimes there is garbage and having some sort of garbage container in the car can eliminate the problem.
• Stop at the Local Car Wash
  Even though it costs a little money, a weekly stop at the car wash to do a quick vacuuming of the floor and seats will help wonders. Don't forget to vacuum under that car seat. There is no need to go all out every time; just a quick sweep will often do the trick.
• Air Fresheners
  It is always a good feeling to crawl into a car that smells nice. Many different air fresheners are available at any local retail store or auto store. You can find decorative ones, air vent-type, and even ones that you can safely hide away so nobody will see it. Have a few handy in case they are needed.

Children need to know the repercussions of not helping to keep the car tidy. Make sure they know what those repercussions are and that it is important that they stick to your guidelines. By following your example, they will undoubtedly grow up to have the same types of rules for their own cars.