Today was a GORGEOUS day! 20 degrees Celsius (for you American-folk out there, that’s about 68 degrees Fahrenheit). This morning before my Kindermusik class, I took the kids for a walk. Then, after Kindermusik, we went for another walk. Then, after lunch, we went for yet another walk! In total, Miss J and I have walked for about 90min today – wonderful!

We stopped at the park on our journey and I gave the usual warnings before she ran to play – the most important being to watch for glass. Last summer, some lovely person smashed a beer bottle in our local playground and even after doing a visual sweep of the area, Jess till got a small shard stuck in her hand. I thankfully had a bottle of water with me and taught her how to clean and squeeze to get the blood to help push out any remaining glass. She was a real trooper, but hasn’t forgotten about that day. Lesson learned.

So today, as I was going through the “safety checklist” for the park with her, I thought to myself “Crap! I drank the last bit of my water already! What happens if she cuts herself?!”

We have officially (and earlier than usual!) entered the season of scrapes, cuts and bites. I’m not sure about your kids, but my almost-4-year-old is a total klutz on the uneven sidewalks in our neighbourhood. Skinned knees are a given in our house come summertime. And when I’m far enough from the house, I rarely have what I need to deal with the booboos appropriately.

I’m sure this idea has been thought of – God knows I’m not the craftiest person around – but I did think it might be helpful to share for those that might want to do this as well.

This afternoon, I scavenged through our medicine cabinets, drawers, etc. and then made a quick trip to the local dollar store and came up with my own “Stroller Survival Kit”. The contents, of course, can be tailored to suit your family, the age of your kids, and whatever you usually need, but I’ll share what I put in mine to give you a starting point:

* 5 x regular sized “themed” bandages (they could be regular, but I’m lucky if Miss J lets me put a princess one on her, nevermind a “plain” one – she HATES bandages!)

* 3 x elbow/knee style bandages (for bigger booboos)

* 3 x gauze pads (for stopping/slowing bleeding, cleaning surfaces with water – I always have at least one bottle of water with me)

* 1 x Antibiotic Ointment (to protect scrapes, burns, small cuts)

* 1 x Antihistamine Ointment (to minimize the effects of bites/stings)

* 1 x pair of tweezers (how we end up with the # of splinters we do is beyond me, but these are a definite must-have for our kit!)

* 1 x package of antibacterial wipes (I don’t know about YOUR kids, but mine think bird poop looks “cool” … ugh!)

* 1 x package of tissues (between colds and allergies, my kids seem to have perpetual runny noses!)

* 1 x package of small hair elastics (Miss J’s hair is ALWAYS in her eyes and gets super staticky on slides!)

* 1 x package of stickers (these make any booboo a moot point!)

* 1 x high SPF sunscreen (I ALWAYS forget mine at home – especially early in the season when it doesn’t “feel” like summer!)

* 1 x waterproof cosmetic bag (I found a neoprene bag with a strong zipper and a little loop for hanging it at the dollar store – I added a longer ribbon so I can hang it from our coat rack by the back door where the stroller’s kept).

When it’s all said and done, I can recall SO many times this little “Stroller Survival Kit” would have been helpful – it’s small enough that I can toss it into my purse, diaper bag or stroller (unlike a full sized first aid kit), it’s big enough that it can carry everything I need, plus a few extras if necessary (see below), and it was super cheap to put together since we had many of the things in our home already!