Guest Post: Vehicle First Aid Kit with Bri!

Bri is a dear friend who is part of the mama crew I run with (I’ve attempted to coin the term Westside Wonder Women since we all live on the west side of town, but oddly it hasn’t caught on) – the ladies who make me sane during toddlerhood! Enjoy the following great fist aid tips!

This article is dedicated to my hypochondriac sister who carries a blood pressure cuff with her everywhere and checks her blood pressure whenever she feels the need to.

My husband and I have been in the process of getting licensed to become foster parents. We first started taking foster parent classes in November 2016. We weren't quite sure how soon and how serious we were, but nonetheless we started our application after 30+ hours of foster parent training. Part of the licensing requirements are focused on safety. For example, every bedroom needs a smoke alarm, a carbon monoxide alarm needs to be within 3 feet of every bedroom door, and firearms need to be locked in safes or separate locked rooms not accessible to children.

I feel like I was given a crash course in safety during foster classes because I'm a child of the 90s, no explanation needed... but I'll provide an explanation anyway. I grew up the oldest of 4 girls and 2 boys. I don't think my stepdad was aware he had 4 girls before he ever had a boy. He bought all us girls dirt bikes, religiously took us hunting every fall weekend, signed us up for basketball, bought us Jordan’s when we didn't even know how to dribble, and told us to promptly punch whichever boy gave us trouble. Do you know how many times we got in trouble by other adults for punching other kids? Apparently that's frowned upon. My blood-pressure-cuff-sister gave the neighbor boy a bloody nose when she was 5. My redneck of a stepdad let us know how proud he was as he cracked open another Budweiser.

Anyway, I'm getting way off topic. Back to safety, which I've provided a background on why that's not my expertise. Our foster licensing handbook gave us some serious tools to get started with safety including a full list of what to include in a first aid kit at home, what to include in an abbreviated first aid kit for the car, and all the baby safety gear that is normally thrown upon new parents anyway (i.e. baby gates, outlet covers, cabinet locks, etc.)

This idea of a first aid kit in the car totally blew my mind. I felt like once I got this shit together, this would be another badge I could proudly iron on my imaginary Mom-Scout vest. Totally not my idea but for those of you that want an imaginary badge to put on your imaginary Mom-Scout vest too here's a list of what I put in my car first aid kit. (In all seriousness and competitive parenting jokes aside, I did think this was a pretty cool idea!)

Vehicle First Aid Items:

• Band Aids
• Neosporin / antibacterial ointment
• Cold pack
• Gauze
• Latex gloves
• Sterile pads
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Medical tape
• Baby Tylenol
• Whiskey (just kidding)
• Sun block
• Aloe vera gel (for sunburns)
• Giant bag of cotton squares
• Baby nose sucker (is that what those are called?)
• Carmex / any chapstick
• Excedrin
• Thermometer

The foster parent license requirements for the car kit wasn't quite that busy nor random so I’ll probably build my kit to something more realistic as time goes on. Although I've never had an incident that needed some of these items, they may come in handy some day. As a mom going through the different stages of my kiddo, I’ve learned what extras I need to pack in the car no matter what.

As my munchkin has entered toddlerhood and finessed her negotiating and terroristic tactics, my current list of extra “emergency” items for the car are:

• Food - several different types of snacks that she enjoys
• Water bottle
• Pacifier
• Food
• Stuffed animal or baby doll
• Extra socks - where do these disappear to?!
• Baby wipes - for removing the constant flow of boogers
• Food
• Calendula balm or lavender oil for bug bites

My emergency/first aid items for the car will most likely change with time, but these are great for now! Feel free to make your kit whatever you need it to be.

Do you already have a vehicle first aid kit? Did we miss anything? Which items would be essentials for you?