Clean Kids, Clean Car – Road Trip Checklist
Janice, my twin sister and co-blogger at 5 Minutes for Mom.com, is an expert on road trips with her kids. She and her husband pack up their kids more than half a dozen times a year and head out on the road to go to our parent’s cabin, to visit friends or to go camping.
She often needs to pick up some last minute item from my house on their way out and I get to say bye to her kids strapped into their car seats and marvel at Janice’s road trip preparation.
Since their car rides usually average between 4-6 hours, Janice wants to use every second of sleep time she can get from her kids. So that means if a child is sleeping – NO stopping the car!
Therefore she must be prepared – for food, for drinks and most of all, for MESSES!
Janice never pulls out of the driveway without a roll of paper towels, a container of wipes, a package of Kleenex® facial tissue, and plenty of plastic bags for garbage, dirty diapers and left over food.
It never seems to fail that liquids spill, sippy cups leak and crumbs fall. So Janice learned years ago to always have paper towels in the car. The paper towels aren’t just useful for cleaning up a mess – she uses them to prevent messes too! Janice hands her kids a paper towel with their drinks or food and even puts her husband’s helping of chips on a paper towel or a Kleenex for him to munch on while he drives.
Another great tip is to have some paper plates, bowls and plastic cutlery on hand to serve snacks and meals. Less crumbs and spills will land on the seats and kids won’t be hollering about dropping their food on the floor!
Janice has everything she needs to keep her kids entertained, fed and tidy all within arms’ reach. Here is her personal check list for a Neat and Clean Road Trip:
- SCOTT® Towels
- Huggies® Wipes (Not just for diaper duty – perfect for cleaning hands and various messes)
- Huggies® Diapers or Pull Ups® Training Pants
- Kleenex® Facial Tissue
- Hand sanitizer
- Plastic bags for garbage and dirty diapers
- Plastic cutlery and Paper Plates or Bowls
- Snack items such as chips, sliced apples, bananas, muffins and sandwiches
- Water bottles, sippy cups and juice boxes
- An assortment of toys, books, video games and a portable DVD player
