I wanted to give db a break from writing, although he loves doing it, to add to his site.  You may have heard (or read) mention of me as, “the wife”, from time to time in his posts.  If you are reading this now, that means he has approved it. Yay, me!

As a mother of two, being prepared when we leave our house, is necessary.  Parents are MUCH more aware of and consciously work toward it when our children are young.  In the infant stage, we wouldn’t think of leaving the house without diapers and bottles.  In the toddler stage, the Earth may have imploded if we forgot Mr. Riddles, the stuffed bunny.  And, in the pre-teen stage, you were the worst person on this imploding earth if you, yes, you mom, forgot the Nintendo DS.  If you had to be away from your house for a set amount of time, you planned for it, and, you added extra, just in case…extra bottles, extra diapers, extra wipes, extra clothes, etc.

What about now?  Where is that ‘bag-o-stuff’ now?

While writing this post, I became cognizant of how many times I wrote the word ‘stuff’.  It reminded me of the George Carlin skit about “stuff”.

Anyway….What would you do if that ‘just in case’ situation happened today?  Some of you may have little ones in any of those three generalized stages and this may not seem to apply to you at this time, but I think it does….just bear with me.

We have two daughters, ages 9 and 13, and believe me, we still need a ‘diaper bag’.  Well, I suppose I wouldn’t call it a diaper bag, more like a ‘just in case bag’.  We keep a back pack with a change of clothes for each of us girls (so shorts, tee shirt and undergarments), I won’t say season appropriate, because here in South Florida we only know the season changes when the department stores change their shelf stock, but we know what we can tolerate as far as the weather is concerned.  Kids and waistlines can grow fast, so check sizing every 6 months.

In this backpack, we also keep deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, chapstick, hair brush and, well, girl stuff.  We also have what we call a travel box. This box contains first aid, sunscreen, bug spray, extra chargers, ear buds, medicines, wipes, hand sanitizer and so many other little things that it makes me crazy.  We never seem to have enough ear buds!  db keeps his own separate back pack because three girls’ stuff does not fit with his stuff.  In his defense, he thinks of things that may be needed that us girls probably wouldn’t think to pack, such as duct tape, paracord, knives, wire, magnesium block, lighter, etc.  Oh, there is much more in his backpack, but I’ll let him tell you about that some other day.

This may sound like it takes up a lot of space…2 back packs and a box.  It really doesn’t.  Pack travel sized items, they are smaller and cost less, then store them in Ziploc baggies to protect the clothing.  Sure, it gets moved around to make room for other things, but we always find a way to accommodate.  No different than in our “not enough storage space and no garage” house.

So all of this for what, in case you happen to be driving along a desolate stretch of highway with no cell service and the possibility of your car breaking down and you are stranded for 10 hours?  Possible…maybe…but not likely.

What might be a more likely scenario, especially in our household, is that you plan on being out for only 2 hours, and it turns into a 10 hour day.  A regular scenario for us  would be…The girls pile into ‘the mini’ (no not a Mini, but a mini-van, bleh) 20 minutes before arrival time, 10 minutes later than we should have left (that is NOT unusual for us). db decides it is fine time to download some podcasts, hop in the shower and get dressed to go.  It doesn’t take him long, but it’s always at the last minute. Ten minutes before arrival time, with a 20 minute drive ahead of us, we pull out of the driveway….

Mom: ”Does everyone have everything?”
Kid 1: “Yes”
Kid 2: “Yes mom” *with the added eyeroll*
Dad: “Yep, all set.”

…awesome, here we go.  We pass the point of no return, you know, that invisible threshold where you decide you are too far from home to turn around…”oops, I forgot to put on deodorant”, “oops, I forgot to brush my teeth”, “oops, I don’t have shoes on”.  Guess what?  No problem, we have all of that with us!  OK, maybe not the shoes, but you know what I mean.  Although, not a bad idea to add that item.  At least a pair of flops…just in case.

Or, have you ever been out at a park and sat in some unidentified goo left on the bench?  No big deal if you have a change of shorts in the car.  One time, we were in the garden section of the local home improvement store and our daughter was playing, very innocently, around a puddle.  Next thing we see, she is laying down in it!  No big deal, we had a change of clothes handy.

Or, you forget deodorant.  I don’t even need a story for this situation.  Just trust that you will be glad you have some…just in case…because in Florida, you need deodorant…I don’t care who you are!

I realize the responsibility to remember this stuff shifts to the kids at some point. Even so, we all forget, especially we mothers who are expected to remember everything (right ladies?).  We wouldn’t dare leave our infants without a bottle, change of clothes (or 3) or Mr. Riddles.  We wouldn’t fathom being ill prepared to take our young out for the afternoon, so why should that change even when they are older?  Why should that change for ourselves?

I give db a hard time because any time we go out of town (usually to softball tournaments) he packs SO MUCH STUFF, but really there have been so many times when we have needed things whether it was for us or for others to help them out with a broken chair, a screw loose on a helmet, an ice pack, whatever, he has something to save the moment.  His things have even served as entertainment for the kids around us because tying knot-headed string dolls and making bracelets with paracord is a skill he has in his preparedness repertoire.

My point is…if you go through the trouble to be prepared enough (and I say that very loosely, because I don’t think we ever believe to be prepared enough) at home, then why would you not prepare yourselves when you leave your homes…even if just for the day?  So, if you don’t have a grown-up diaper bag in your vehicle, find yourself an old back pack and put one together.  Report back with a comment and share with us what you have in your bag, maybe it will help others get started too.

Until next time,

eb