[tranquility]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

My kids are still young... 1 and 5, but at least with the 5 year old (and soon once the one year old starts understanding things more) I've been sure to instill general expectations and behaviors. For example my daughter is conditioned to not even expect to be able to eat or drink anything in my car besides water. She takes her shoes off when she gets in so not to scratch up the seat back. When getting in or out of the car she steps over the sill so she doesn't scratch up the side skirts (this took months of constant reminding). When walking past the car she makes sure to keep a bit of distance so that her backpack doesn't accidentally scratch it. And she knows to not touch the car and get hand prints on it (this also took months and months of constant reminding).

My wife thinks I'm ridiculous but oh well. It may be trickier with you since the kids are already older, but if you take the time to explain that the car is to be respected, kids will eventually listen (provided you have a good relationship with them).

Duuuude... ya, you're definitely not completely Asian (South, East or otherwise)...there may be some German in you.

[tranquility]

LOL, this thread...didn't wanna start a new one so how about 'wife/gf-proofing'? Bill Burr was right, it's like a little kid was sitting in the passenger seat w coloring crayons, food crumbs/french fry, coins, tissues, etc. I was trying to dig up something the wife dropped on the floor (yet again), found all those nice surprises lmao. How the heck does one drop a coloring crayon (read: eyeliner or whatever they use lol) and not know about it? Oh man...

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by jkoral

All my kids are grown now, but no food or drinks in the car (except water), no eating in my car. When they were younger I supervised removing bikes, scooters, toys from garage and kept garage door shut. When picking up kids from school, etc, backpacks go in trunk.

My kids frequently told me I love my car more than them, but I survived 3+ kids with no dings, scratches and a mint interior (across all of the BMWs I've owned).

Amazing. My approach has been to let them do whatever and trade the car after 18 months. We've been through 1 GL450 (lasted 5 years), 1 Honda Odyssey, 1 Q7, and 1 X5. Now about to grab an X7. This time I think we'll put some rules in place - no food in car, and they can have water only. I like that idea. The 3 kids are older now and should be able to handle this. The Tesla is impenetrable with its fake plastic everywhere, so they can trash it whenever they want no problem.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by tranquility

Duuuude... ya, you're definitely not completely Asian (South, East or otherwise)...there may be some German in you.

trust me I'm the black sheep of my family. Of my parents and siblings, I'm the only one who took meticulous care of my things and have always been a neat freak.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

trust me I'm the black sheep of my family. Of my parents and siblings, I'm the only one who took meticulous care of my things and have always been a neat freak.

Haha, I wouldn't say you're a black sheep, just very careful about keeping your stuff good...I'm kinda like that because my stuff lasts forever to the amazement of my wife....just that I don't have any little humans to order around lol.

[skyline408]

I have a 5 and 10 year old.

When they were babies, I wanted the "no eating in car rule" but that quickly went out the window on our first road trip or long drive. kids get HANGRY.

How I've been able to manage is we have a snack bag that I am conscious of what goes in there, no Cheetos, messy snacks, etc...

Every door pocket, I keep a microfiber cloth and I have them hold it on their lap while eating anything. I keep reminding them to wipe their hands and I have wet naps readily available too.

The biggest tip, is to clean up immediately after every longish trip. I vacuum and wipe down the seats. One tip, I've never seen mentioned that has worked great for me, is I open all the doors and take my leaf blower and blow out the seats, under seat, car seat, overall interior. I have found that this will usually dislodge 99% of dust/dirt accumulated. I then do a quick vacuum to get the rest of the dust. You'd be surprised at how much dust your interior accumulates.

As for seat backs and ingress/egress. I tried to teach them to tread lightly, and so far it has worked well. I just remind them to not kick the seats, and to step over the plastic bits to get in. Just a gentle reminder here and there is all I needed. Any scuffing, i'll just wipe right away instead of letting dirt accumulate.

My only kryptonite is the beach. For that, we always bring a change of clothes and shoes and I lay out towels on both the seats and floormats.

All the family cars we've had had look really good when we sold them.

[skyline408]

Another tip.

Amazon and medical supply stores sells plastic throw up bags. they are small, collapsible, and easy to keep in each door pocket. Show the kids what it's for and for them to recognize the feeling of getting nauseous and have them hold the bag ready to go.

I never thought my kids got car sick until the day it happened, and believe me -- all it takes is the first time, and it will ruin your day.

My kid got barf on the seatbelt, and Alcantara seats - which you know will never come out and be the same. So being prepared is key.

Now, I keep at least 4 bags in each of the cars and always at arms reach.