Being a mom of three kids, I’ve come to realize that there are three items that I almost always have with me when I leave the house. Whether they are in my car or actually in my purse, I try to not go anywhere without them. Whenever I don’t have them near by, I almost always regret it. Wondering what they are? If you’re a parent, I’d encourage you to stash these three things in your purse, too.
#1: Boo Boo Stick
This magical little stick (about twice the size of chapstick) is quite a tiny guy, but he packs a mighty punch. True to it’s name, we use it for any and all boo-boos in our house. This item is used daily in our home (and on the go). It’s not just for bumps and bruises, though. It helps cure small burns (ask me how I know), stops bug bites from itching and swelling up, cools sunburns and can even be used as chapstick! Just today I used it on myself for a scrape, oven burn and itchy bug bites. My son had a large scrape down his leg from a soccer cleat injury a few seasons ago, and after applying the Boo Boo stick to it during the game, it was almost completely healed by that same evening. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked by friends if they could borrow it when they’re with me, and I even had a friend come home from vacation and buy another one, stating that it was passed around every night during their family beach vacation. Whenever I forget to put it in my purse, one of my kids inevitably scrapes their knee on the playground or gets an itchy bug bite. I’ve learned to keep one in my purse and a second one in the bathroom at home.
#2: Book on CD
To anyone who knows me, it’s no surprise that I carry around a book on CD in my van. Audiobooks help so much with crowd control when I have errands to run with all three of my kids. Just today we had to run some local errands, and by the time we got home we had listened to one hour of a book on CD! And I’ve learned that 99.9% of the time someone will complain while I’m pulling out the CD and inserting it into the player and reply, “Oh no! Not another book. I’m closing my ears!” But that same child who complained at the beginning is (99.9% of the time) quickly wrapped up in the storyline by the end of chapter one and begging me not to turn it off when we arrive home. In fact that just happened today. I pulled out James and the Giant Peach on our way to the grocery store, and one of my children actually jumped out of the car (before we left the driveway) and exclaimed, “What in the world, Mom?? I am not listening to a story about a peach!” But within 30 minutes that same child was laughing big belly laughs from the backseat. So, audiobooks (whether a book on CD or one downloaded to my phone on an app) are my go-to for keeping kids from making me go insane in the car and for “sneaking” in more read-aloud time during errands. Even listening for 5-10 minutes while you drive across town…those 5 minutes begin to add up, and before you know it you’ve completed a whole chapter book together!
#3: Hands on the Go
This is simply a hand sanitizer that our family uses that is toxin-free and alcohol-free. In fact, the first ingredient is aloe! If you work in a profession that is constantly in need of using a hand sanitizer throughout the day (like the medical profession), your hands can quickly become dried out. This hand sanitizer won’t do that. The organic essential oils in this product work to clean your hands naturally. There are various sizes of bottles of Hands on the Go, but no travel size. I just dumped out a travel-sized bottle of store-bought sanitizer, rinsed it out, and filled it with Hand on the Go. My kids and I use this all the time when we’re out of the house. In fact, on vacation we were all constantly using the Hands on the Go and the Boo Boo Stick.
CHIT-CHAT: Do you have any unique items that you always have on hand that you or your kids use often?
