Car Kit
I like to think I have always been or organized person, messy yes, but somehow organized through all of the chaos. When we had one kiddo it was much easier to keep things in one place so we could easily grab and go but now with two kiddos, game changer. We have stuff everywhere, including our car.
Usually we store the necessities in our diaper bag but we always like to have extra supplies on hand. Whenever we go out (people always shout...lol jk) we always bring our kiddos oils kit. It includes Thieves hand sanitizer, Thieves mini spray, an owie roller for all the boo boo's, a tummy roller for belly aches, immune support roller, tantrum tamer roller and some band aids and a Young Living lip balm. If you are new here, we use essential oils for our overall wellness.
These organizing tips can help you even if you don't have tiny humans following you around everywhere. Before kids, we applied the same "rules" with our fur babies and just normal road tripping stuff versus now, with babies. The biggest thing to organizing is making sure everything has its place. If items are over flowing or you are stocked up for the zombie apocalypse, then you probably just have too much crap. Downsize, ditch and switch, and have the necessities and most used items up front and easily accessible.
I like to limit the waste we have in our life by using reusable bags for shopping and mesh bags for produce and smaller items but some things we just haven't switched over yet like reusable diapers, trash bags, etc. I'll gladly admit I am not perfect but we have eliminated quite a few wasteful things this last year and every step counts right? We do not have any paper plates or paper napkins at all or anything wasteful like that, I actually did a post about Living Greener here if you want to take a peek at all the unnecessary things we no longer use in our house. Slowly but surely we will switch more and more things out.
Let me get back on track. *insert eye-roll emoji* The first thing we did to organize our car was to utilize every nook and cranny of our car. While we don't have a teeny car, it is also not that big, so being able to find spots for everything is important. In our particular car we have a little section in the truck that lifts up and has a place for the spare tire. Well, on top of the spare tire there is this very hard foam barrier with little pocket holes so hello, let me just go ahead and put stuff there. I have extra little water bottles, first aid kits, extra baby wipes, a stainless steel thermos, shopping cart cover for the tiny humans, a bottle of Thieves household cleaner for all the spills, nasties, messes, hands, feet, surfaces, everything and we also have a fold up picnic blanket that duels as a changing pad if needed.
Next up is the top layer. I bought this car organizer from amazon because it came with a lid. As you can see, we don't actually use the lid anymore because our 100 reusable shopping bags are too tall, but in theory, the lid is great because you can put more things on top if needed. In here we store all the things we use on a daily basis. One side acts as a diaper bag, in case we forget our actual diaper bag, it's happened people trust me, we learned our lesson haha.
We stock one side with diapers, pull-ups, wipes, hand sanitizer, snacks, waters, a baby blanket and this really awesome buggy bench. This comes in handy when you have more than one kiddo and are going shopping, the typical shopping cart only has space for one tiny human and this portable seat just attaches to the cart and now you have two seats. Super compact and portable and we love using it.
On the other side of the cube organizer we stash all of our reusable shopping bags. Here in California, it costs 10-20 cents per plastic shopping bag if you need one plus they are terrible for the enviroment. We have a bunch of reusable shopping bags that we lay flat and then roll up like a burrito to fit into the cube. It works out well and is easily accessible, we always have a bag when we go out. We will grab one of these bags for beach towels, kid toys, basically anything and everything. When you are a parent and your hands are limited, putting things in a bag and throwing it over your shoulder makes your life much easier.
In the side pockets we store the mesh bags for our produce, we use these in replace of plastic produce bags. We also have Thieves hand sanitizer..... because germs, gum and whatever else we need. This car kit makes everything super accessible and easy to see. I will also usually throw in an extra outfit for everyone in the family into the cube organizer. Why? Shit-explosions that's why! We learned with out first kiddo that when they are in the car seat and there is some rumblin, everyone can be a victim of poop splatter. Too graphic? Meh. It's the truth. So, an outfit for everyone goes in the trunk if we are traveling outside of the city. I actually don't always do this unless we know we will be away for the entire day, otherwise, we can always drive back home in shame and change later.
I made a little video walk through too .... https://vimeo.com/353159655
PARENT TIP:
If you have tiny humans and you are traveling anywhere from your residence that's more than 30+ min away, bring a small cooler with you. I actually remember this hack from when I was younger and my aunt would take us to 6-Flags Marine World, at the end of the day, on the way home she would always have a small cooler with cold water and man what a genius idea!! Now, we rarely ever leave home without one if we are traveling outside of our city, even if it's a day of shopping an hour away, we take a cooler with ice, waters, milk, juice and snacks. Overkill? Sometimes, we don't always need it or use it at all but then the times when it comes in handy it is a life saver. We are always prepared with cold water and anything we need for the kiddos.
I am no expert, this is just works for us and out style of living. We try our best to be kind to the enviroment but we are not perfect. We try our best to be organized and to not forget anything but we are human, this car organization kit helps us live this crazy season of life.
Do you have a car organizer? What does yours hold?
XXO,
Cass