I was sharing this story with someone on the phone when she told me I should blog it. So here I am! Way back in the early 90's we went on a lot of home school field trips. I usually had a fair amount of children in the car so I purchased a Puff N Stuff trash bag. It had a place for Kleenex and trash. The bad part about it was that the kleenex box hung upside down. When we went to grab a tissue half of it would tear before we got a full tissue out. The good part about it was that when nausea came upon us during a road trip, I'd just reach back, flip open the Puff N Stuff and lean the youngun forward to casually throw up inside the great litterbag. Many years later I purchased The Busy Woman's Daily Planner. They carried the products from this manufacturer so I began selling the very same car organizers. That prompted me to call the company and tell them of my issues with the kleenex tearing. They are a great bunch of family people so they changed that part! Jump ahead to a 10 day trip from Southern California to the top of the state. We took Highway 1 as often as possible. As luck would have it, we didn't notice my 13 yr old eating an entire family size bag of Cool Ranch Dorittos and guess what? You got it! "Mommy, I don't feel so good." Can you guess what I did? I flipped open the NEW Puff N Stuff Litterbag and told her to lean forward. When she was done, we stopped at a rest stop and washed it out. When we got back from our trip I called the company to share our adventure and their creation! Since then they write in their marketing materials this strong selling point: LEAKPROOF.I feel so honored to be of service! Since the mid 1980's I've always organized my car. After all, I had children to tote around and was very conscientious about safety, comfort, and the least amount of crying possible. Here's a list of how I organized back then.
1. Cardboard Box - I put jumper cables, water bottles, crackers and snacks, basic tools, small shovel that folds down (we had to dig ourselves out of the sand once), oil funnel, and oil.
2. There was a first aide kit underneath my seat.
3. I kept a Tote by the door packed with extra diapers, socks, shoes, wipes, snacks, bottles and juice, plus some baby toys.
4. I kept a cheap plastic box in the car with car toys. The kids could only play with these while in the car. It gave them something to look forward to.
5. The children each had their own File box with top section for pens, pencils, erasers, paperclips, etc. The inside had their notebook, school work, and workbooks. Sometimes we had to take their text books and when it was too much for the file box, I'd put the one or two that didn't fit inside of their private car organizer, a cardboard box.
Jump ahead to the recent years and we have:
1. Trunk Organizer that zips closed with oil funnel, oil, jumper cables, a water bottle, tools.
2. Front Seat Organizer - Maps, CD converter for my cassette player, cassettes, wipes, tiny first aide kit, lotion, hand sanitizer, kleenex, pen and paper.
3. Cargo Tote Mini - This allows me to store my computer so that it doesn't go sliding across the van and break... AGAIN! My purse has it's own pocket there and my Starbucks even has it's own spot in there. The Cargo Tote Mini fits a four cup holder from Starbucks perfectly so when I get 2 or more drinks, I have a safe place to put them.
4. Trash Stand Floor Litterbag XL - I needed a larger trash can for larger and more children in the car. {wink}
5. When we go on a LONG car trip, I put a Kids Backseat Organizer in the back for each child to have easy access to their electronic toys, snacks, and drinks. This keeps my teens occupied and happy for most of the trip.
6. The children each had their own File box with top section for pens, pencils, erasers, paperclips, etc. The inside had their notebook, school work, and workbooks. Sometimes we had to take their text books and when it was too much for the file box, I'd put the one or two that didn't fit inside of their Kid Backseat Organizer.
7. Last but not least, a family size First Aide Kit underneat the front passenger seat.
It took 8 years of home schooling to learn how to do things so well that our road trips are always a pleasure!
©2006 Susie Glennan |
