Do you let your kids eat in the car?

[Anonymous]

I do allow them to. Not for no reason or because they are bored, but often the minute we've left a party for a 45 minute drive home they realize they are starving. So having a granola bar or an apple makes the ride better for everyone.

Now mine are 7 and 9 so this is less and less important. They can go longer between meals and don't have complete meltdowns when they are just a little bit hungry, so they can generally wait.

I do vacuum the car regularly and clean the seats if they get spilled on. It really hasn't been that big of a deal, if you do at least occasionally clean your car.

[Anonymous]

I let my kids eat in the car if we are driving during a mealtime and they didn't finish before we go (they are under 5 and the slowest eaters in the world). If I didn't clean my car regularly, yes, it would be disgusting after a while. However, I find all the food mess cleans up easily. What drives me crazy are all the grains of sand and dirt from the playground that settle in the crevices of the seats or the corners outside the floor mats. I find those impossible to clean up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The moms who refuse to allow their kids to eat in the car age into the grandmothers who “close their kitchens” after dinner to keep them clean when hosting for the holidays then wonder why their children never want to come visit.

Project much? Kitchens are for food prep and eating. My car is for transportation.

[Anonymous]

This all says a lot more about who lets their kids be messy eaters and who doesn’t clean their car.

I taught my kids to ear neatly and also regularly clean my car, so occasionally eating in the car due to scheduling is not an issue at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The moms who refuse to allow their kids to eat in the car age into the grandmothers who “close their kitchens” after dinner to keep them clean when hosting for the holidays then wonder why their children never want to come visit.

Project much? Kitchens are for food prep and eating. My car is for transportation.

Correction- YOUR kitchen is for food prep and eating.

Personally, my kitchen is for food prep, cooking, hanging out, doing homework. MY car is for transportation and whatever else needs to be done during the transportation- meal or snack if needed; podcast if kids are bored; schlepping stuff. What the PP is saying is that people who hav rigid ideas about one thing ("my car is for transportation" often have rigid ideas about other things "kitchen only open x hours a day; no snack etc." Fine if it works for you but other people do different things.

[Anonymous]

My mom-mobile has some crumbs but who cares? I vacuum monthly and use that slime thing to get dust and into the nooks. It’s not realistic for working parents who drive their kids to sports everyday to NOT allow snacks in the car. I even eat snacks in the car, gasp!

[Anonymous]

People who don’t allow food either have very young kids and/or the kids are not very involved in activities. When my kid was 7 and had one hour of practice and one game a week: she didn’t need to eat in the car then.

[Anonymous]

I avoid it whenever possible but sometimes you just can't avoid it.

I'm also pretty particular about our family's cars and spend what amounts to too much time on the weekends washing and cleaning them. I've hired detailers before but I can do a better job myself for a lot less money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom-mobile has some crumbs but who cares? I vacuum monthly and use that slime thing to get dust and into the nooks. It’s not realistic for working parents who drive their kids to sports everyday to NOT allow snacks in the car. I even eat snacks in the car, gasp!

I care. Crumbs and dirt bother me. I don't want to live in filth. Make your kids vacuum their crumbs once a week and you do a deep clean once a month.