I’m pretty sure that I still have a starter bolt somewhere in the bottom of my engine bay. Also, I started tying a long piece of string to the end of my wrenches for when I drop them.

I was in a similar position last year; I have a 3 yr old Great Dane and 3 small kids. I went from a TJ Jeep to a manual BMW 530xit, and now I don’t have to leave anyone home when we go to the kids’ soccer games.