Our Second Home

We all have that place that we call our second home. It may be a friend's house, your mom's or your favorite vacation spot. It's that place where we usually spend most of our time when we're not at home. Our second home is full of memories and household treasures. It is a place for family meals, quick changes, and story time magic. It is what keeps us together and also what makes us fall apart. No other thing could take it's place.

Our car. We practically live in it when we are not at home. It is usually stock piled with some of every odd and end. It has become our own personal kitchen and dining area, an on the go snack shack, where food is dropped, rubbed, crushed, and smeared into the carpet. The family room consists of rows of grape juice stained, please identify the color, gold fish, coral reef-crusted seats. Games of all sorts and our version of books-a-million entertain the kids from their designated areas on the floor.

The bathroom is also located here. A personal bathing and changing station, because "Mama, pee-pee potty right now" while we are in the middle of nowhere could not wait. Then, the seats are carefully divided into each kids room because "I don't want him touching me" is currently an issue. In their "room" is some of the stuff they've brought into the car and forgot about (so have I)- jackets, the Beginner's Bible, game cards, pencils, notepads (they have both declared they want to be artists) and socks(the littlest one throws them off in minute).   Our second home also hosts a storage shed in back. Here we manage to keep an umbrella, a fully equipped Taekwondo bag, a sword, a stroller, a ball, a zip lock bag of leftover birthday party favors (Easter egg stuffers), and stuff that actually belongs here like jumper cables, a jack, and a spare tire.

Oh, but don't worry there is a trash can. Any mom can probably attest to the fact of taking a kid's car seat out of the car and realizing that they have their own discovery center at hand. While cleaning the car out today kid free, (thank God for grandma's) I managed to find all kinds of buried treasure. There were shark bitten gold fish, cashew halves and pieces, smooshed raisins, 78 cents, empty lollipop sticks, orange peels ( no doubt put there by my daughter - at least she put them in a zip lock bag), tissues probably used and baby wipes.  See.  The total package. 

Though this is our second home, I don't really like spending time here.   Maybe one day, this home away from home may actually resemble some luxurious spa rather than some bottom less pit of the never ending story.  And on those days, I'll turn up the music, relax, and enjoy the ride.