Kids Instantly Devalue Your Car

http://www.eatplaylove.blogspot.com/ put up a great challenge--ridding your car of junk so it uses less gas. Fortunately, my car doesn't have a lot of big stuff, like strollers. It just has lots of little stuff that doesn't weigh a lot, but just makes it look bad.
Here is an example: the front passenger seat is where I pile all my bags that I need to get through the day: my purse; a backpack filled with extra clothes, wipes and diapers; Ethan's school backpack; a lunch bag in case we need to eat on the go (more on that later). At the end of the day, I try to pull everything out, but don't always succeed.

The back seat is filled with toys to occupy the impatient boys during car rides. They both like to draw and color, so there are lots of Color Wonder coloring books and markers. Magna Doodles are another popular drawing toy. I try to have two of the same type so they don't fight over them. Since I drive a mid-size car (Toyota Matrix), my kids can easily reach out from their car seats and pummel each other over a toy.
Finally, as the pictures show, our car is filled with crumbs, crumbs, food wrappers, and more crumbs. I've found it easier to just eat lunch in the car at times than stop at McDonald's or a park and deal with the transitions of getting them out of the car and back into the car. But my poor car has paid dearly for it--even when I vacuum it regularly, there are stains that will never go away.
Good thing I like my car, because I would have to give it away after what my kids have put it through.