Ooh, I"m the mean mom on this one-no, I never let my kids eat or drink in the car. Ever. Not when they were tiny, not older with fast food, not now as teenagers. I bought my (first ever in my life) brand new vehicle when I was pregnant with my first child. To be honest, I knew that the crud of food detritus that ALWAYS results from little ones and food in a car would be impossible for me to bear so I figured it was best not to even start it. So we never did. I do have to say that if you are going to have a no-food rule in the car, it probably has to be something that starts from the very beginning. I think it would be extremely difficult to enforce once the kids (and mom :) are used to it. Oh, and I am such a neat freak I couldn't bear to let my toddlers sit in a high chair and smear food all over themselves. Just couldn't stand it. So no photos of my one year old wearing birthday cake all over the face, body and furniture, no watching them smear peas into a paste all over "brrr, gives me the shudders to think of it) etc...they feed themselves fine anyway nowadays. They'll probably be talking about mean old mom in therapy for years though! Ann

I disagree with some of the other comments about your son not being "grown up" enough to take care of his own life.I wonder if any of you have had hard times as such and how you got though them. My husband was out of work for a few months because of an accident at work and for those months my paycheck was not enough to cover rent, food ect. We also had one child and one on the way and had to ensure my childs needs were met first and foremost. As in needs I mean a roof over his head and food in his belly. So I do belive it to be the more responcible thing to ask a parent for help then not. For a few months my in laws did help with rent and yes did buy us another used car when my husbands died. If they couldn't have helped us then we would have probally been kicked out of our place and both my husband and I would have more then likely lost both our job's with no means to get there and I hate to think what might have happened with our kids since we wouldn't have been able to support them. I will also mention any tickets my husband has got, his sister has taken care of all the paperwork and fee's and so on to fight them, since she is a paralegal. It is because she cares that she does it. My husbands family cares enough to give us a hand from time to time when we need it. We do always pay them back and have the comfort in knowing that we can count on them when in need. I call this type of relationship a real family. As a real family helps one another out when they are in need, and they don't turn thier back on you and say figure it out for youself. I think that is great you can help your son out Lyndielu2007. I don't think you are trying to make up for bad years or anything, but that you care enough to be supportive of him and his family in times of need. You can't change his early years, but you are there for him the most when he is in need, which is what matters.

I am copying and pasting from another link...do you think something as simple as Listerine would help??? Hi, My husband is a heavy equipment mechanic and his clothes always smelled like diesel no matter what I used to clean them. One day I was reading one of my online newsletters and someone had written in that an insurance adjuster had told her to clean her household items with Listerine after a fire, and the smell would be gone. He said it would remove almost any odor. I tried it on my husband's clothes and it works great. Now I never wash them without it. I was thinking if your spill is a small one, saturating a paper towel or something like it with Listerine and leaving it in the car for a while might help. It's worth a try.

I rarely notice vehicles of any kind backed into spaces so I paid attention while we were out running errands today. We were at Costco, Home Depot, the grocery stores, a large medical complex and went out to dinner before heading home. All total, I saw four vehicles backed into spaces and all were full size pickups, which is pretty much what I observe anytime I'm out. It makes me wonder if backing into a space is a regional practice not seen in my area or if most people tend to pull forward into a space when parking. Now, what really gets my goat is someone with a large full size pickup or SUV pulling a long trailer who takes up two+ spaces when they park due to the combined length of the vehicle/trailer. It's not the two+ spaces that bugs me; it's that they generally insist on parking near the store entrance and taking up two+ spaces with the butt end of their trailer blocking most of the lane between rows of spaces making it impossible for anyone trying to find a space to drive down the lane. These people are being rude and need to use the rarely used spaces at the edges of the parking lot so that they don't cause parking lot jams. Grrrrrrr... Edit to add that we own a full size 4x4 pickup, but always try to be polite about where and how we park. Hubby is good at backing into tight spaces, but I am a complete and dismal failure especially if any distance is involved.