Toddlers are a joy that seem to compound both your love and your stress especially when they are in the car. If you just bought a new car you may be worried about how to keep the interior looking good with your toddler in the car.

Always carry wipes in your car. You never know what sticky substance your toddler may have found either in the car our outside. Having wipes handy will make a potential disaster easily avoided; just wipe and you are done.

Have a trash bag in the car for wipes, food, and any other items that should be thrown away. This will keep the floor of your car clean and free from clutter. Decide that every time you go to the gas station to empty the trash. You could even have your toddler help and reward your child with a treat for helping.

If you eat a lot in the car, choose foods for your toddler that easily clean up if spilled. You may want to avoid giving your child sugary items. Drinks that have sugar become sticky and can be hard to clean up, same with sugary snacks. You may want to invest in  Husky floor liners, they come tailored to fit the make and model of your car and last longer and are more durable than the standard liners. They look great and if your toddler spills they can be cleaned easily and be hassle free. The stain-resistant nylon or rubber mats allow easy wipe up of all kinds of spills. No longer will you need to slave away on hands and knees scrubbing out French fry grease and juice from sippycups.

Another idea is to keep a towel under your toddlers car seat. This will help keep the actual seat of the car clean from the smashed cheerios, fries and other foods plus it is easy to grab the towel and empty the debris into the trash can.

Many times toddlers get bored being in the car have books and other items without small pieces for them to play with. If they have something to do they may not start screaming and throwing things all over the car.

With just some simple steps you don’t have to dread getting in your car with a toddler but you can feel good about taking them on errands or even a road trip. So save a little patience for other spots in your life and let your car be a place of peace.

Many of us love being outdoors for physical activities. But when the weather gets crummy—too cold, too hot, or too much precipitation of any sort—we stay on the sofa, maybe for months, until things get better.

There’s no reason to give up exercising just because the weather stinks. You can stay physically fit, or get there, without leaving the comfort of indoors.

These tips can help make your indoor workouts work wonders for you:

1. Put down the dark chocolate hearts and pick up your TV’s remote control. Get up off the couch. Turn on your set. If you have cable, it may offer free “when-you-want-them” video selections, including fitness or exercise programs. You’ll find choices from abdominal exercises to gentle yoga to walking or weight training. Some are as short as six minutes.

   Pick a different program every day or set up your own routine: walking videos three days a week; strength trainingtwo days a week. Vary your selectionand you won’t get bored. You can also use a video recorder to capture regularly broadcast fitness shows.

2. Use a free 5 or 10 minutes to do ab crunches on your bedroom rug or leg lifts while talking on the phone. Research shows that three 10-minute sessions of exercise in one day are as beneficial as one 30-minute session.
3. Dance—with or without a partner. Just push back the coffee table and put on the music that gets you moving.
4. Ride your bike indoors. Sounds crazy, but you can get a special bicycle stand that turns your street bike into a stationary exerciser. Check sporting goods and bike stores.
5. Forget that you’re a grown-up and head to the roller rink. Family sessions are usually the most sedate and best for those who haven’t been on wheels for awhile. Once you get your rhythm going, you can burn more than 400 calories an hour.