Helpful Items To Place in a New Car

Last weekend my husband found a car online that he wanted to check out at the local car dealer.  Seven years old, our current vehicle was serviceable, but the odometer was edging upwards, which almost always means expensive maintenance is on the horizon.  In case the online vehicle met our needs, I headed to the garage to clean out the old car. I grabbed some paper shopping bags that I leave in the trunk and filled them with three umbrellas, a handful of bungee cords, several cartons of golf balls, a flashlight and some grungy hand towels that smelled like grass clippings. Just in case, I placed another bag in the back seat for the contents of the glove box and console compartment.  

Three hours later, the shiny new car took its place in our assigned garage parking spot. The essential items from the shopping bags made their way into the trunk and glove box of the shiny new car.  I remember thinking that we should check the batteries on the flashlight, that three umbrellas were overkill, that clean towels might be advantageous, and that we lacked a medical emergency kit. I made a mental note to remedy these items in the days to come.

Yesterday, my husband picked me up at the local tennis courts in the new vehicle.  “Wait,” I said, “Let me clean off my shoes first.” I ran to the shoe wash station and eradicated the soft-court grit from the bottoms of my tennis shoes.

“You really should have some towels in here, clean ones not the grimy hand towels from your golf bag,” I said to my husband. “To protect the seats from sunscreen and sweat.” He nodded.

The new car is essentially my husband’s, but when it comes to practicality I’m not shy about acting on my inner voices. As soon as we got home, I fetched two clean beach towels from the laundry room for the trunk.  I didn’t want my tendency to over apply sunscreen to stain the virgin leather seats.

“I’m taking Colleen to lunch, “ I announced to my husband an hour later. “We’re going to walk the mall afterwards, get her labor progressing.  Wanna come?” Our oldest daughter was expecting our first grandchild any day. Last night she’d gone to the hospital only to been sent home when her labor pains had subsided.

“No thanks.  You two enjoy a nice mother-daughter lunch,” was the response. Lunch was delicious, but as soon as my daughter worked her way into the passenger bucket seat, her water broke.  

“Uh-oh!” She said giggling. I scrambled to retrieve one of the clean beach towels.

Lessons abound in this simple tale. You don’t have to clean out an old car or restock a new vehicle in order to be prepared.  Check your trunk, your glove box, and your back seat and make sure you have what you think you need for your next adventure to the mall or lunch. Trust your instincts, too.  If you think the odd item should make its way to the floor of the backseat, go for it. Not just great advice, but words of warning.