How To Teach Your Kids to Value a Clean Van

February 9th, 2009 by AmyL · 3 Comments

My 4 boys have never really valued cleanliness, especially when it comes to the family van. Generally speaking they seem to believe it’s some sort of closet on wheels. Today, however, I think we made a breakthrough. I am not kidding when I tell you that in the space of 2 minutes, they worked like a championship team to get the van cleaned out. It was amazing.

I thought I’d record the steps I took to achieve this victory so that other parents can also reap these rewards.

Step 1: Arrange for a 6 year old boy to vomit in the van in sub-zero temperatures. Do clean up as much as you can (of course), but leaving a bit behind is helpful for this particular endeavor.

Step 2: Wait until the weather warms up, then take all of your children on an outdoor adventure, preferably with lots of water, ice, and mud for them to play in.

Step 3: Drive home, shedding wet clothing and boots in the van. Stop for milkshakes to enjoy on the ride.

Step 4: Once you arrive home, be sure to close all the windows tightly, and leave the wet boots and clothing in the vehicle overnight.

Step 5: For bonus points, leave any leftover milkshakes in the van overnight as well.

You’re welcome.

by AmyL

Photo graciously provided by T. Lot, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved

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3 responses so far ↓

Rocket Science Mom // Feb 10, 2009 at 5:56 am

Ewwwwe!

This was hilarious! I cannot tell you how many pounds of cheerios and goldfish crackers I vacuum out of the backseat of our van monthly.

Just don’t know if I am ready to try your motivation method.
Megin Hatch // Feb 10, 2009 at 5:37 pm

Amy- so funny. My van is a pit right now, and it’s far too cold to think about tackling the mess.

and RSM- color me impressed that you vacuum the van monthly!
AmyL // Feb 27, 2009 at 8:06 pm

Rocket Science Mom my kudos to you as well for the monthly vacuuming. Please tell me you live in a warm climate so I can not feel guilty about the months of the year when I don’t vacuum mine. We are going to try and get the van professionally cleaned in another month or two. Right now if I don’t leave the windows open (and that’s difficult to remember in Michigan in February) the smell is just overwhelming every time we go somewhere.

Megin, exactly. It’s too cold to do more than dig out the trash. But at least the boys have improved on that score. Today I asked for any food or cups from the back and it was all clear. yay!