When I was growing up, we never took our car to a car-wash. My family always washed the family car and occasionally washed my dad's beat up work truck. When we were older, the kids took over the responsibility at least twice a month. I remember the big bucket of soapy water, old frayed wash clothes and towels, tons of paper towels, blue windex and the almighty industrial wet/dry vac. All this while the car's FM stereo would be blasting KZZP 80s tunes.
These memories came flooding back as I watched my kids wash the car. Summer came up with the idea because it sounded like something fun to do. Every one of the kids, jumped at the idea with Meg happily stating, "Why pay to have your car washed, when you have kids to do the work for you." OK, true! I guess the opportunity cost has always made going to the car wash the logical choice. I never thought of the fun it could be for my kids.
After gathering the essentials, un-kinking the hose, positioning the car, and pumping everyone up with good music...they began. They all got to experience the POWER OF THE HOSE, how slippery the hood of the car can be, how slippery concrete can be when your running away from the one with the hose, and how hard it is to get windows streak-free.
I loved watching them work together, iron out disagreements about their plan of attack, delegate the hose, and just have fun. I don't think I'll be giving up the car wash, but it's a fun thing to do once in a while.