It’s time for some Car Talk. No, not the weekend NPR talk radio show. I mean, it’s time to talk about Car Tips or Life on the Go, the theme that Shannon has asked us to focus on for this week’s WFMW.

Actually, an article of mine that includes a lot of creative ideas in this category is scheduled to be published this fall. Because of that, I can’t give away some of my favorites today. I have to save them for later, but I’ll provide the link to the magazine’s online site in a few months. Meanwhile…

EVERYDAY MOM-MOBILE ESSENTIALS
Forgive me if these are ridiculously obvious ideas. My clever ones are in that article I mentioned. For what it’s worth, here’s a list of items we always try to have in the car:

1. Waterproof containers
Over the course of nearly 13 years of parenting, we’ve caught a lot of, um, “liquid-y substances” in various containers. We’ve learned the wisdom of toting around a supply of plastic grocery bags and/or a storage tub. Stick a plastic container and some bags under the seat. You’ll be glad to have them, and you’ll never know when you’ll need them. (You could use that sturdy Gladware and just toss without guilt.)

Real-life illustration: At New Year’s I had resolved to work on my French. I happen to own a significant collection of French tapes stored in a plastic tub–recordings of popular French musicians, kids’ songs, Berlitz lessons–that I had tossed into the car to listen to on my commute to and from the kids’ school, hoping to follow through with my resolution for a few minutes each day. When an emergency arose recently while zooming along the freeway (“My stomach’s upset, Mama…”), I reached over, flipped the box upside down to dump out the tapes, and handed back the box–just in time, too. It contained everything, and when we arrived back home, I was able to wash it thoroughly by hand, sterilize it in the dishwasher, sniff-inspect it, and then refill it with French tapes. Voila! C’est tres sensible et tres pratique. 

2. Change(s) of clothes
Definitely store a change of clothes for each child even beyond the potty training years. We’ve needed them so often, for so many reasons. The kids have needed to change for reasons ranging from a spontaneous afternoon wading in the creek (and falling in), to spilling an entire cup of Sprite that lost its lid when being passed back. 

Bonus tip #1: Get those backup clothes from Goodwill or some other inexpensive source so you don’t care if they sit back there unused for a season.

Bonus tip #2: When one of my kids turned out to be a projectile vomiter the entire first year of her life, I carried around a stack of clothes for her along with a couple of extra T-shirts for myself. And we used them almost daily. Life was that messy.

3. Big towel
Same as the above two reasons: You just never know what you’re going to have to catch and mop up.

4. Wet wipes
Ditto. Plus, you can toss the box of wipes to the kids in the back of the van, and they can wipe out the cup holders and other hard surfaces (but not the windows).

5. Roll of paper towels
Ditto. Also, in a pinch, a sheet can be torn off and handed to someone with a desperately runny nose.

6. Tissues
The paper towels reminded me that we almost always have a box of tissues on hand.

7. Trash containers
You’ve got to put all of those tissues, wet wipes and paper towels somewhere. We pick up a freebie car trash bag from Mike’s Car Wash from time to time, and also use a special vinyl trash container made especially for the car (it looks kind of like this one). I do want to be honest, however—not every piece of trash makes it in (but we try).

8. Water
We usually have at least one bottle of drinking water rolling around somewhere in the car. This is critical when people start weeping from thirstiness (this has happened on many occasions). Also, when we’ve run out of wet wipes, we can moisten a paper towel for wet-wipe-type cleanup jobs. And, toss one damp (not dripping–just damp) paper towel and one dry paper towel to the back, and the kids can clean the inside windows. It won’t be perfect–a detailed cleaning using Windex is certainly better–but for spontaneous maintenance on the run, this method can at least minimize if not eliminate smears from sticky fingers and dog drool.

TRAVEL NOTEBOOKS
When I have time and motivation, I assemble travel notebooks. Enchanted Learning offers printable pages to create a travel book using their suggestions. In fact, they offer to their members the entire innards that they’ve designed, but several free sheets for the general public are available to download when you’re piecing together your own (like I do).

• Notebooks
  We start with inexpensive folders (the kind with brads in the center) to contain hole-punched printouts–a different colored notebook for each kid (consider upgrading to waterproof vinyl–they’re easier to wipe off when Sprite spills on them, and sturdier both for the trip and for long-term storage). You could use a lot of different folders or binders for this, however. In fact, when you’ve got it all assembled, you could just staple it all for a simple and cheap alternative (though the first and last pages might get ripped and stained).
• State info
  Older kids can research the states we’ll pass through and design quizzes to test us on facts, capitals, major interstates and places of interest, etc. I suggest that they create fact sheets to find the answers. When the kids were younger, I researched this myself and made it as visual as possible.
• Maps
  We print off a blackline map of the region we’re traveling through (Enchanted Learning has a pretty good collection of individual state maps, U.S. maps and more). The kids can mark the capital, draw in mountains, rivers and large lakes, and color the states that we visit.
• Activity sheets
  Print off fun activity sheets like travel Bingo and travel Scavenger Hunt (in which you hunt for police cars, semis, tractors, work zones with cones, etc.) and coloring sheets at online sources like Moms Minivan. Also, check out the Family Fun travel printouts page.
• Journal section
  Insert blank pages (I just use typing paper for the young kids and blank lined paper for the older ones) for the children to use for a journal. Older kids can write in the dates and scheduled destinations as they ride. Younger kids can draw pictures to capture their experiences.
• Page protectors or pocket pages
  Page protectors are great for pages that they’ll reuse (tic-tac-toe sheets, Bingo or color-the-states). They can use a dry-erase marker and use a paper towel to wipe it off and resuse. Also, I explore the office supply store to see what I can insert in the notebook that the kids can use to store handouts and flyers that they pick up. Our kids find free coupon books at gas stations with nice color photography that they want to cut-and-paste into their journals. It’s nice to have a pocket, envelope or plastic page protector they can drop it into to store until they have time to work on it (like the long drive or flight home). Rest areas and tourist offices have a boundless supply of free “souvenirs” like this.

The entire travel notebook becomes a memory book for that trip. On the way home we go through the alphabet, reminding ourselves of an event or experience–some memory–from the trip that starts with each letter. The kids write in their favorites on a page in the back of this notebook. It kept them busy in the car, engaged with the outings, and thinking about what they’re really taking away from the trip.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop with these two suggestions: Everyday items that have saved the day in many emergencies, and Travel Notebooks.

Please visit Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas!

My previous Works-For-Me-Wednesday Ideas:

Money-Motivated Kids

Drawers-by-the-Door

Make the Most of Internet Lag Time

Storing Dishes: How Low Can You Go?

Crepes? Mais, Oui!

Containerize Kids’ Laundry

Let It Snow, Let Us Slow (Crockpot Steel-Cut Oatmeal)

Family LoveFest

Joy of Lifelong Learning–For Free!

MP3 Accompanist

MP3 Note-taking