The 10 Essentials

These are items that everyone should carry with them. They can save the day and the family vacation.

First, purchase a small fanny pack or very small backpack to hold the 10 essentials. Fanny packs work better for smaller children since they snap on at the waist and don’t have to be removed for sitting. Small children adapt quite easily to wearing fanny packs. They feel all grown up and responsible. Before the trip, purchase the fanny pack. Now, you and your child stock it together. Be sure the child knows what everything is and how to use it.

1. Wallet with Identification – Something that can aid the police if your child gets lost like a school ID or a business card with the parent’s name or a Hotel business card.

2. Money/change for a phone call (never to be spent). You may not have cell phone access or cell coverage.

3. First Aid Kit - 2 or 3 bandages and wet wipe in a zip lock bag can solve a lot of problems for a child. Parents should bring a tube of antibiotic cream also.

4. Hat

5. Sunglasses

6. Sunscreen - Teach the kids how to use it and keep reminding them throughout the trip.

7. Water- everyone always carries a water on a leash or clip (solves the problem of “I’m thirsty and the need to buy a soda)

8. Granola Bar/ Power Bar or some sort of energy bar (to be eaten only during an emergency - At the end of trip, eat the energy bar. Otherwise you may find the pack and the energy bar, at the bottom of the closet growing mold!

9. Tiny Flashlight ( nothing worse than trying to find something in the car at night)

10. One large Trash bag – sounds silly but it can be used to sit on wet grass or sand or as Emergency rain gear (rip a hole in the bottom for the head and in the sides for the arms then slip it on. It’s not stylish but you will be dry. You can even use it as a trash bag! (Moms and Dads remember, plastic bags are not toys. Small children can choke and suffocate. You should carry the plastic bag if your kids are young.)