You can call me on the (juice-stained) carpet for sweeping generalizations, but it’s been my experience that in your typical suburban household where each parent has a car, Mom’s car will be the messier of the two. Throw a pet like my Daisy (right, riding shotgun) into the mix, and disorder and debris are your destiny.
I don’t think I’m off base here. Just a cursory scan of cyberspace found plenty of mothers lamenting the woeful state of their minivans. One even had a contest that sought out the most unkempt car.
If only I had known. If I’d submitted a pic of my own slovenly sedan, I guarantee I coulda been a contender. That is, if I could find my camera…
.
His:
Sleek
Spotless
Toy-less
Tot-less
Leather
Shiny
Never whiny
Quiet
Yell-less
Calm
Smell-less
Hers:
Hatch-backed
Crayon-attacked
Vinyl cracked
Baby-yakked
Not compact
Toy-stacked
Ransacked
Mud-tracked
Never intact
Brat-packed
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©2009 Carlotta Eike Stankiewicz
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(note: this post has been updated and re-blogged from its initial appearance more than a year ago.)
The Well-Versed Mom 
I would probably win the messy car award between the two of us, but it would be REALLY CLOSE. Some men can be pretty sloppy without any help from others. And I say that with love. Sorta.
This is exactly how it is at my house!
My car has kid bombs explode in it the first, third and fifth weekends of every month. It is astonishing how much crap my kids can unleash in such a small space in the time from when I pick them up to the time we get to where we’re going. I suppose it is good that they still have the impulse to create nests when they are with me. They love to show me that week’s “stuff”–whatever it is. Which is their way of including me in their lives, which I wouldn’t trade for anything. Great post. Thanks C!