vendredi 31 mars 2017

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Smooth Ride! 14 Items Every Mom's Car Needs

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Remember when all you needed in a car was four wheels and a great sound system? Like every other aspect of your life, motherhood changes how you think about your ride, how you use it, and what you need stocked inside.

For city dwellers with limited space, your car becomes a storage unit, conveniently holding that enormous stroller that you don't want to drag up four flights of stairs. For moms of busy older kids, it's a portable home base, a place to stash cleats and uniforms and dance shoes. And for all moms, it's yet another one of your spaces that your kids have claimed as their own. They don't save all their demands, trials, and messes for home, after all, so a mom on-the-go (and aren't we all?) needs to be prepared.

Here's what you need in your car to make sure you're kid-rider ready.

  1. Wipes, a lot of them. Messes and kids go hand in hand, even on the road, which is why every mom knows to keep a pack of wipes in her car long after she's potty-trained her last child. They work for spills, sneezes, crumbs, and so much more.
  2. Extra diapers and maybe a set of clothes. If you have a kid in diapers, it makes sense to leave a few extras in your car, and you get extra points for having a spare outfit at the ready in case of leaks, blow outs, or dramatic spit-ups.
  3. Approximately 1,000 napkins. If you let your kids eat in the car (and seriously, respect for you moms who have stayed strong on the "no food in the car" rule), not only have you probably collected a million napkins from drive-through restaurants, but you probably need them, too.
  4. Car-friendly snacks. My go-to, kid-friendly car snacks include Goldfish, granola bars, fruit snacks, squeezable applesauce packets, pretzels, and graham crackers, but if you're feeling fancy, try some of these awesome travel-ready snack ideas your kids will love (and inevitably leave some part of on your floor mats).
  5. Water bottles and/or sippy cups. I've yet to drive my kids anywhere that takes longer than 10 minutes without at least one of them claiming they're dying of thirst. I always bring each of them a sippy cup or water bottle, and for longer trips, I throw in a couple of extra waters for refills.
  6. A box of tissues. If your wipes are gone and your napkin stash is depleted, tissues will work all year-round, but they're especially important during cold season.
  7. Hand sanitizer. Frequent public parks and play spaces? Then hand sanitizer is an essential car supply.
  8. Tiny, but not too tiny, toys. My 3-year-old son can't go anywhere without a couple of small superhero figurines or Matchbox cars, and they actually entertain him during our trips around town. I try to avoid anything too small (i.e. Shopkins), as they inevitably end up stuck between the seats for months (or could end up in a mouth when you're not in a position to be watching or to reach back for help).
  9. A phone charger. If you're in your car half as much as most moms I know - and as phone dependent as the rest of the world - a charger is a non-negotiable.
  10. Kid entertainment. Small toys work for short trips, but if we're going to be in the car for longer than 30 minutes, iPads and travel-size coloring or activity books ensure that I don't have to hear "how much longer?" every three minutes of the ride.
  11. Mom entertainment. Now is actually the greatest time to be stuck in your car, with so many fantastic podcasts (This American Life, The Longest Shortest Time, and Bitch Sesh: A Real Housewives Breakdown are three of my current favorites) and music from Spotify and Pandora available right on your phone. You remembered that charger, right?
  12. Some kind of organizer. If you have older kids who are in a lot of activities, an organizer is a must. You can make your own from a plastic crate or box, or buy a fancy one designed to hang on the back of your seat or to be stored in the back.
  13. An extra booster seat. If "carpool" is officially part of your vocabulary, investing in an extra booster seat (you can get a perfectly nice booster for under $25) is probably a good idea.
  14. An umbrella. Sometimes it rains, so keeping a umbrella in your trunk means you won't have to pick abandoning your grocery run or carrying a baby through a downpour ever again. That's progress.


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