Kim and Sue, Leigh Ann, Sis …..all of you type A, clean-your-car-out-everyday types…..look away, come back and visit tomorrow…..this post is likely to offend your clean car sensibilities. Now for the rest of you, listen close; I need your help.
Day 1- There’s the faintest hint of a ‘funny’ smell in the car….you barely notice it and think about it for 3 seconds-max.
Day 2- The ‘funny’ smell is a little stronger–you give it some thought and a quick look around—don’t notice any obvious sources, unless you count running shoes and an old poptart. You give those a quick sniff and head on in, puzzled.
Day 3- The six year old says “Oooooh, what’s that smell? Yeah, I’ve noticed it too. Maybe it’s just because it’s so hot outside and the windows have been up. Another quick look around reveals a petrified chicken nugget–which is not the source of the smell–and 4 day old TCBY leftovers—which is not the source either. We roll the windows down and head to ballet.
Day 4- I’m starting to dread car rides longer than 5 minutes. I look under the seats and in the ‘catch-all’ basket for the culprit. No luck. Clear out some old Mc Donald’s fries and buy ‘new car smell’ air freshener. We then proceed to have a heated discussion about where to place the air freshener. I’m not a fan of them dangling from the rearview—something so 1980’s-cheap car-tinted windows-dicey about it. Nothing screams ‘my car is old and not clean’ like ‘new car’ air freshener on the rearview. So I find a much more appropriate place for it while my children point out every. single. car from here to Knoxville that has them ‘dangling’ , to convince me of the error of my ways. But I digress.
Day 5- Weird air freshener-‘funny’ smell mixture goin’ on. I try to diagnose the smell—at this point I’m thinking small dead animal—but who knows—-CAUSE I CAN’T FIND THE SOURCE. I drive an excursion so that’s like finding a small child in Walmart.
Day 6- My children complain that the smell is so horrific, they may vomit. I’m dry-heaving myself. We roll the windows down and stick another air freshener up—not on the rearview, BTW.
And that brings us to today. Do you have any suggestions? Has this ever happened to you? Cause it’s a quarterly thing for me. Let me add that this is not the sweaty boy/feet smell that my sons’ car always has….no this is violent and wrong. Can small animals die somewhere, like in the engine? Will I need to take EVERYTHING out of the car and start all over. Do I need to call in special search teams? Is it time to sell? Am I a bad person/mother/homemaker/car owner? Please advise.
