Always prepared

"Mom, you need to make a mom bag for dad's car," said the oldest child. "He has nothing."
Pray, child, whatever do you mean? I have seen your father's car and know that cannot be true. He has empty water bottles and random pieces of clothing and golf balls. He has way more than nothing.
Apparently, he doesn't have chapstick or a brush or a lint roller or sunglasses or band-aids or tweezers or a pen and paper or hair ties or baby wipes - you know the things that most people have in their cars.
Now, I understand why most men have clean cars and women do not. I had the painful realization of this a few months ago when I borrowed my father's car while mine was in the shop. His car, although at least two years old, looked like it had never been driven. There was no dirt, no balled up tissues, no straw wrappers - nothing to suggest that people lived in that car. Oh wait, I said lived in when I should have said drive. He drives his car from Point A to Point B. He gets in, goes and gets out. He doesn't have to buoy his purse somewhere so that all the stuff doesn't fall out but he can still reach it when he needs a piece of gum. He doesn't have to carry four water bottles or lunches. He doesn't live in his car.
Moms like me have the kind of car where we could survive in it for a few days. We have extra clothes, blankets, first aid kits, bottles of water, snacks, activities. We can make it through at least a week stuck on the side of the road, I'm sure.
And maybe I don't need six blankets, 12 rain ponchos, 4 tubes of sunscreen, shin guards, a portable potty and 6 ice packs. But, guess what kids? Someone else has needed them because every one of those things in my trunk have gone to use.
I learned to stockpile my car because there always seems to be a need. And I always seemed to have the things in my car that other people needed but not the things I need or my kids need. And I also realize that the reason I need to be so prepared in my car and in my giant purse is because I don't prepare well enough at home.
Like, if maybe I put deodorant on in the house, I wouldn't need to carry it in my purse and put it on while waiting at a red light. Or if I remembered to put a water bottle in the kid's lunch, she wouldn't need to grab one out of the case in the back of the car.
I guess I am prepared for being unprepared. I know that I will forget so many things so I keep extras of those things in my car/second home. Now that that's said, I will go and get ready for work - and hopefully remember that deodorant.