Make Your Kid Wash the Car

The kids are bored. The car is dirty. I think we all know what needs to be done.

If you haven’t yet insisted that the kids go outside and wash the car, you are missing out on a hack that is usually pretty excellent but is especially so right now.

Let me lay this out for you:

1. You think washing a car is tedious and boring. You don’t see anything magical about sudsy sponges and water hoses. They do.

2. They want to get wet, but the public pools are closed or too crowded and little backyard pools have long since been sold out practically everywhere. Is washing the car a way to get wet? It is. Put them in swim clothes and let them get as messy as they’d like.

3. You get a clean car in the process. Or (a more likely scenario), you get a semi-clean car in the process. You’re not going anywhere anyway, so impressing folks with your perfectly sparkling car isn’t the point right now; the point is you’ve just killed 20 minutes of a day.

(A word of warning: You should use dedicated carwash products, which are mild and designed for use on automotive paint. There are some suggestions online for washing your car with a dish soap/warm water mixture in a pinch, but that could be harmful to the finish. Also, kids are not going to be gentle with your ride; don’t give them sponges or washcloths that are too abrasive — natural sponges or microfiber mitts are your best bet.)