The Car Bag
In a previous blog, I posted about what are the top things I keep in my purse to keep my sanity and my kids entertained when we are out and about. Don’t get me wrong there are sometimes I wish I had a bottle of wine or vodka in that purse as well!!! I also have a back up activity box in the car, in addition to some other necessities in a bag. My husband often asks me if I have the whole house in the car!! Can you tell I like to be prepared to keep my sanity?!?! So here are the things I keep in the car at all times!
#1 Scissors
I know you’re thinking why in the world would have scissors in the car? Well they are very useful in so many ways! I have a pair of scissors from Pampered Chef that lock and have a cap on them for safety. You know when you’re running late to a birthday party and you have to stop and get the gift and wrap it and then you’re like SHIT, the tags are still attached, i have to wrap this thing in 2 minutes. Scissors – great for cutting off tags and tissue paper. I also use the scissors when we go out to eat, especially for pizza!!! I can cut up food very quickly and then just wipe them clean and put the cap back on them. I don’t know how many times I’ve been made fun of for having them, yet when people start seeing me use them and even want to use them for their kids, I’m no longer the crazy one!! Also the kids use them to create crafts in the car when we have long road trips.
#2 Food
This is kind of an easy one that most people do. I like to have some sort of fruit available to them, so I have the pouch foods and then freeze dried fruit packages in the bag. I usually also have other types of snacks – crackers, nuts, nutrition bars, tuna packs, mayo and ketchup packs in there as well to help out in a pinch when you’re on the go and you don’t want to feed your kids gas station snacks or fast food. This has also helped us save money because we aren’t stopping and buying all of those things. Having healthy options for them when we are on the go makes life so much easier and I don’t end up losing my mind!!
#3 activity box
In the previous blog, I talked about what goes in our Road Trip baskets, and I will keep a few things in the car at all times because they are easy to use. Again, enter teacher mode here!! I use activity/busy boxes that i use with my students and use them with my kids. These are super easy to put together and are cheap. Two of them that i really like to keep in the car are a soap dish – you know the flexible plastic ones that have the tiny spiky things on them (yep, i’m very technical in describing!). With the soap dish I have the plastic pony beads in there. The kids can put all the beads on the spikes and then take them off. I know you’re thinking this is a pretty boring thing to have them do, but my kids love it! They make patterns with them as they’ve gotten older and then show them off. This keeps them busy for like 10 minutes!! I put the soap dish and beads in plastic lunch meat container that has a lid on it. The next one I do is a pom pom box. I take that same lunch meat container and cut different size holes in the top and put different size pom poms in the container. I keep an extra tub underneath so that they can empty the pom poms in there and then put them in container that has the holes in the top. Now, my 9. yr old really doesn’t play with them as much anymore, she likes to take the pom poms and pretend to make food for her stuffed animals. But Hudson and Monroe still like to play with this one. Monroe probably likes it the best right now because its something that doesn’t need my asistance to do.
#4 Legos/building toy
Take another lunch meat container or something along those lines and put all those random lego pieces that you laying around your house (you know, the ones that you find in the couch, the ones you’ve stepped on and cussed out loud) and boom, the kids will build all kinds of creations out of them. I also have taken this into a restaurant when I know we are going to have a long wait. I also found some simple building/interlocking toys in the dollar bins and kept those in the car bag as well.
#5 Crayons and paper
I have used an old wipes container – the little one, and collected the crayons from restaurants and keep them in there. It’s really easy to grab that take it in wherever, or hand it back to them in the car and they can color and draw until their hearts are content. Since the restaurants typically only give out the basic colors – red, green, blue and yellow, I also throw in other colors because Hudson likes to color things in their true color. Along with the crayons, I also have paper in there, because what good are crayons without something to write on. I’ve found little notebooks in the dollar section or even use post-it notes too.
#6 Silverware
Yep, I keep silverware in the car!! I have a few silverware containers that I keep in the car. I found this set at the Container store and you can just assemble what you need and you’re good to go. The set comes with chopsticks, knife, fork and spoon. This even turns into a distraction with Monroe because she loves to take the silverware apart and make different combos herself. These have come in so handy when we have to eat in the car and even when we are at cheer and doing a pitch in and someone forgets serving silverware. I also keep a toddler set of silverware in there as well so that when we are out they have something that they can manage better.
#7 Dishes
Ok, i get it, you’re really starting to think I have the whole house in the car, but I promise all of these things can fit into my 31 bag on the floor of the front seat! Just look at the picture! I have found a collaspable bowl and lid from the Container store and keep that in there for when there are snacks or whatnot that needs to split up or the bag of goldfish rips and food can end up all over the car! I also keep food baskets (easily found in the summer and even at the dollar store) or trays (mine are the vintage mauve Tupperware ones with lids). When we have to eat meals in the car (can you tell we eat on the go a lot?), i can put all their food in a basket or tray and then pass it back and the food is contained and not all over the floor or in their seats!!! The tupperware trays also double for an activity tray when they are doing certain road trips activities.
#8 General Toiletry Items
Since, we are always on the go and I tend to forget things, or there is a surprise play date, an emergency potty stop, etc. I pack a few general toiletry items to help with this as well. I always have a plastic grocery bag to use as an emergency trash bag, a few paper towels folded up, a travel size roll of toilet paper, sunscreen, bug spray, band-aids, ponytail holders and a brush. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve used these things and have been so thankful that we have them in the bag. I’ve also helped out other families in their little emergency situations and they are so thankful I had them in the car. I will also tell you I have 2 bags packed, one in each of our cars so the hubby is prepared as well. These items sound so simple, yet are some of the most needed items when you get in a pinch.
I hope that I’ve helped you get your car organized a bit in order to help with your sanity and your kids!! I would love to hear, what are some things that are a must to have in your car at all times? And what are some things that you learned from this blog, that you would be wanting to try out? I’m always looking for new ideas to add to my bag and make life easier. I look forward to my next blog and hearing from all of you!! Until next time, enjoy your kids, smile and keep anchoring it all!
