Pack the Car with Snacks & Fun

It's one of those days.  I'm getting in the car in time to get to school #1 before the bell to pick up a kid - and for the next five hours will be making a circuit around the county from dentist appointments to after-school activities to school pick-ups to church.  The kids are in rotation as I drop one off, pick up another, go back and get another - you know how it is.  And the schedule is tight, so I don't really have a bunch of time to stop and pick up a snack for that one, roll through McD's for a smoothie for that one - who will tell the others that they got something from McD's and then I've got to stop again.

We should be home in time for dinner (so, yes, it's a crock-pot day, too) but in the meantime, I will have a carload full of folks who are soooo hungry.  The snack bag to the rescue!

Snacks for the hungry ride.

I carry a snack bag for these long, car-ride days.  Not just for the sake of snacking while bored, but because they probably will be legitimately a little bit hungry - the kids eat lunch rather early in the day and have athletic activities after school.  I pack non-perishables, then I can leave it in the car until it needs replenishing.  Cereal bars, crackers, water and juice.  I will bring along grapes (an easy, no-peel, no-mess fruit), too.  And yes, there's even stuff for me - don't we always forget ourselves?

Other stuff to keep in the car for the after-school mini-roadtrips?  School supplies and entertainment.

• Pencils & erasers for the kid who forgot theirs and needs to do homework
• Flashcards, even though they don't use them in school, but it's still a good way to study math facts and spelling words.  You can have them write their spelling words on index cards when they first get their list.
• Books that they are supposed to be reading for school. Or fun reading just to be entertained - my son loves those amazing facts and greatest record books.
• Small toys or games - Or pieces of a game, like the cards from a Trivial Pursuit game.
• Playing cards - they can play when sitting and waiting

With all of this time in the car, there is also all the wrappers and paper and trash that inevitably finds their way into the car door handles (which my kids think are convenient little trash cans that a car fairy comes and cleans out), onto the car floor, and in between the car seats.  I saw an idea - on Pinterest, in Real Simple, who knows - to use a plastic container for a trash can.  The flip-top kind you use for cereal or sugar in your pantry.  I happen to have two empty ones and I just happen to have two rows in my car.  Let's see how that works out.

Share in "Comments": What else do you carry in your car?

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Mom-Me Celebration - Day 12, 13 - Relax & Clean Out Your Car

No - Day 12 & 13 are totally not related - don't try to find a deeper meaning.  These are all pretty random, whatever I feel like we need that day.

Mom-Me Celebration - Day 12 - I wanted to know how you RELAX?  Or do you even relax? When I posted it on Facebook, I had to give it some deep thought myself.  I tried to remember the last time I totally vegged out in front of the TV doing absolutely nothing else.  I'm usually doing at least 2 things, even when I'm relaxing.  Watched The Voice the other night - really like "playing along" by listening with my back to the TV and deciding whether I will turn around (you do it, too, right?).  And while I was listening, I was on the computer doing some sorority task and getting ready for my PTA meeting.  This - focusing on doing nothing but relaxing - is something I need to focus on.

Mom-Me Celebration - Day 13 - Take 30 Minutes and Clean out your car.  Did you find the time today?  This is what I found: a clothes hanger, water bottles (both empty and full), Apples to Apples cards, those wax bottle candies (you know the kind with the sweet juice inside?), shoes (mine).  What have your kids left behind in the car?

If you are anything like me, your car is your second home. There are days that I spend more hours driving and going somewhere than I do in my real living room.  And just like at home, every now and then, its time to clean up so you aren't pushing reusable grocery bags and old magazines around on that passenger seat, looking for the carplug to your cell phone.  I'd like to add some more decorative touches - you know how some people have those solar flowers that wave back and forth or the hula girl on the dashboard? Maybe not exactly like that, but something. My car's pretty basic.  Any ideas?

Follow along here on my blog or on Facebook - JustPiddlin with Frances for our 30-Day Mom-Me Celebration all the way until Mother's Day.

What's worse - a car that won't stop or a car that won't go?

Let me tell - both are bad and expensive.  A few weeks ago, I had my car in the shop because it wouldn't go into Park or turn off. It was like "Unstoppable" without Denzel Washington.  (And anything without Denzel Washington can't be all that great.) Today, my car is back in the shop because it won't go.

As usual, we had a busy day - swim practice, play rehearsal, basketball practice, with a stop at Best Buys and plans to play tennis thrown in for variety. Luckily, I had traded carpool days for play rehearsal.

As I was driving with two of the kids, the CheckCharging System and AdvCheck Off lights came on, along with the icon of the car swerving on the road. I don't know much about cars, but I do know that those are not good lights. So I did what I do whenever a light flashes on my dashboard - I hit the "Reset" button. The swervy car light went off, but then came back on. Yes, I was very surprised that "Reset" did not in fact, return my car to normal operating condition. I continued on wondering what the lights meant.

As I turned the corner, I quickly found out. They mean: your car is now shutting off.  Yes, right now. Regardless of the fact that you are turning across a very busy street at 5 pm on a rainy afternoon. Now.

Next lesson of the afternoon - it is nearly impossible for a woman, or at least this one, to push a full-size SUV out of an intersection. Thanks to the 4 men who jumped out of their cars and moved me and my kids out of the middle of the street safely to the corner.

And then the fun begins. Broken down car, rain, rush hour, annoyed drivers, and bored kids.  Wish I had a drink to go along with all the excitement.

A note for those who are honking and yelling - no, I didn't plan for my car to break down here in your way. Yes, I know I can't "park" here. Yes, I do wish I could move out of your way. Sorry I didn't find a better place to breakdown. Yes, I know what emergency flashers are, they went off, probably has something to do with all the power going out in my car.  I'd roll down my window to wave you past, but my windows are powered, too. Maybe it's a white towel you're supposed to hang off your car to signal some distress. Sorry, all I have is a red Michael's shopping bag, maybe folks could take the hint. And yes, I am chatting on the phone - calling roadside assistance and every tow truck company in the neighborhood. One should be here within the hour.

The kids have found someway to entertain themselves with the stuff in the backseat. Unfortunately that includes playing toss with a tennis ball, fencing with an umbrella, and making the happy family figurines fly into space and crash into the sky, i.e. the roof of my car. Too bad I just had the car detailed or they'd probably have dinner stashed back there, too.

The tow truck has showed up and the guy jumped the battery. The car started and I was ready to go home.  "Are you sure?" The tow truck guy asked, skeptical of my plan to drive merrily home.  He suggested that I go directly to the shop.  But in all my car wisdom, I thought I'd go home and figure it all out in the comfort of my own home (or pass this off to my husband for him to figure out).  I was sure - my car is running, I'm going home.  Tow truck guy suggested he follow me (I think he suspected I wasn't going to make it).

I buckled up to make a U-turn to head home.  And I realized that although the car was running, I couldn't roll up my window. Or turn on my headlights. Or turn the steering wheel.  Even the little swervy car icon wasn't blinking.   I guess its back to the shop.

At least the kids enjoyed the excitement of watching a car loaded onto a tow truck and riding up front.

(written to the sound of honking horns)