This time of year is really busy for most folks, and we tend to stay in the car shuffling from one activity to another. And then we get caught out and your kids are crying because they are "starving to death". Most of the time we turn to the drive-thru to get a quick snack, or even a meal. This can add up to lots of $$ (especially if you have a larger family like mine, or teenagers. Of which I have both)
Our solution is a Snack Bag. It's nothing real fancy, in fact it's one of the free diaper bags I received in the hospital after sprout #4 was born.
In this bag I keep:
paper plate
cups (either reusable or paper)
napkins
some cutlery
Most of these are leftover birthday party supplies.
some of those drink add ins, like KoolAid or Crystal Light
non-perishable snacks: pretzels, cereal bars, animal crackers,etc) And this is where most of my free samples end up as well, small boxes of cereal, crackers, etc
wet wipes
a disposable sippy cup for the youngest sprout
a few plastic grocery bags for trash
This way I have some snacks, or I can make a quick, cheap picnic meal from the grocery store, or the store deli (Kroger has a fried chicken deli meal w/chicken, potato salad and rolls for $5.99 which may be regional) or if I plan ahead and take the making for sandwiches, all I have to remember is the food.
I recently acquired a small cooler that will hold just a few canned drinks or 4 bottles of water. We have been trying to remember this when we go out, because inevitably someone is also "dying of thirst".
Ahh, teenagers.
I used to keep a case of bottled water in the back of the car, but then there were reports of chemicals leaking into these when left in a hot car so we got out of the habit. In winter this is not a concern, so I can tell I am about to buy more water! Each child has a reusable water bottle that I generally nag them to fill and take with us when we go out, but they almost always forget, or only 1 child has theirs and the others are, well, you know. (see above comment^)
