There is nothing worse than arriving into the school drop off line, only for the rubbish in your car to drop off with the kids!
Better yet, imagine your face when a teacher or parent comes running over for a quick chat and glimpses in the window?
The shock, the horror, the sheer embarrassment of your messy car is written all over your face, and you're worried when you eventually look toward that person you'll see nothing but disgust.
But let's face it, we're not alone.
How many mums can honestly say they have time to clean their car when they're practically living in it all day every single day.
Mums rely on their vehicles so much they don't even have time to send it for a valet, because school pick-up, soccer practise, music, art and play-dates don't keep an open window for that.
Mum-of-three, Nikki Pennington, knows the feeling, giving a shout out to all the mums who endure the same predicament as her.
Putting pen to paper, the mum writes an open letter to the hot mess school mums: "The ones that let their child out at the drop off line and yesterday mornings breakfast wrapper rolls out with them."
"The mums that tell the teachers the endless pile of soda cans from the entire year are only there because they are teaching their kids about recycling."
"The mums that jump out quickly at the pickup line to get their child so they can manoeuvre an entire pile of the school years special projects to the side."
The letter is for all mums, mums who still can't figure out where the smell is coming from, who practically live in their car four times a day so just move the mess over because they haven't time, and not forgetting the ones who hear everything in their car move when they break.
"To the moms that really aren't sure where some of the stuff even came from, [...] my car is filled to the brim with memories of this school year, I lived in my car, I promise I'm not a hoarder or homeless."
"I'll clean it up on the last day of school, trash rolls out of my truck in the drop off line, my house isn't this messy, I'll try harder next year, hot mess school mums."
However, many people felt the need to shame the mum-of-three for not having a sparkling clean car, and wanted to know how Nikki allows her children sit in this 'mess', thus proving Mum needed to have her say.
She needed to stick up for all the mums who felt ashamed and embarrassed, reassuring that they do not need to feel this way, their home life is more important than their car appearance.
And in a final ode to all the mums who just don't have the time to clean their cars, Nikki has her say:
"May we know them, may we love them, may we confess we've all been one, may we promise to look the other way when we see one and not mum shame."
"And may we all know we are doing the best we can even when our car looks a hot mess like us."
