I’m Calling The Car Wash Self Care
Oh mamas, let me tell you about my “unexpected break” this past weekend. You know how other moms get these golden little nuggets of freedom and they head straight for a coffee shop, or maybe wander around Target pretending to be deep in thought while really just basking in the quiet? Well, not me.
I dropped Jessica off at a birthday party and had nearly an hour all to myself. An hour! A gift! A blessing! A… curse? Because what in the world do you do with it?
Do I go home and fold Mount Laundry? Do I run to the store? Do I sit in a corner somewhere sipping an iced latte and staring at a book I probably won’t read because I’ll just be thinking about whether my dryer stopped?
Here’s where I ended up: the car wash down the street.
Yep. Fifty whole minutes of pulling car seats, vacuuming out crushed Goldfish and enough Cheerio dust to feed a small village, tossing empty water bottles and snack bags, wiping down the seats, scrubbing sticky fingerprints off the windows, tucking air fresheners under the seats, and wrestling those car seats back in like I was auditioning for WWE. All of this in the Georgia sun—where it wasn’t just my car smelling “fresh” afterward.
By the time I was done, my little SUV looked better than it had in a long time. Then I rewarded myself with a pit stop at Quick Trip for gas and the biggest cold drink they had. Mama needed her QT after that car TLC.
I sat there quietly in the lot for a few minutes before heading back to pick Jessica up. Just me, my drink, and a car that—for one shining moment—was clean, before I ruined it by letting another human being back inside.
And of course, when I told the other moms what I did with my “me time,” they shook their heads. “You could’ve gone to the bookstore!” one said. Another sighed, “Girl, a pedicure!” But I just laughed with my go-to line: “I know, I live the life!”
Here’s the thing: I could treat myself to a massage or a mani-pedi (Lord knows I need both), but in my own way, this was self-care. Because truth is—mess causes stress. And when I knock a couple of those nagging chores off my list, I feel lighter, calmer, more like I can breathe again. A clean car? That’s peace in a cup holder, baby.
So I’m calling this one a win. A sweaty, sunburned, vacuum-dust win.
But now I gotta ask:
If your husband waltzed in and said, “Hey, last meeting got canceled. I’ve got the kids for two hours”—what would you do? Be honest… pedicure, Target stroll, nap, or car wash warrior like me?
#MomLife #MessCausesStress #GeorgiaMoms #PlanItMom #PlanItMomUS #SuburbanMomChronicles #AtlantaSuburbs #SelfCareButMakeItChores
