What You Need in Your Holiday Shopping with Kids Survival Kit

All parents know the scenario: You are shopping for the holidays, you made a list and made many preparations to make the shopping trip as short as possible. List in hand you leave your home with children in tow, shopping at the first store or two goes swell, then you pass a McDonalds (or other kid favorite fast food place)! This is the point when well laid plans start to unravel, feeling stressed for time you stop and order one kid's meal per child and a drink for yourself, then onward you attempt to trek. By the time you reach the next store the children are covered in crumbs, something slimy (or sticky... your choice), and at least one child announces they need to use the bathroom.

On the way through the parking lot one child chases another, one trips and the next thing you know you have one child crying with a scraped knee, another crying because they need the bathroom, and perhaps a third (or more) crying not be left out of the fun. At this point a wise parent will visit the bathroom do his or her best to clean up the children, let them partake of the facilities, and quietly exit the store postponing the shopping trip for a time when a grandparent (or other responsible adult) can look after the children while the parent attempts a blissfully alone shopping trip.

Been in this spot often? Does this happen for birthday shopping, grocery shopping, and pretty much anytime you brave vacating the children's natural habitat to explore new destinations? It does to me! That is why I keep my "Survival Kit" stocked and ready for any time I leave my home. What does it include? Stuff to clean a kid, stuff to feed a kid (at least to tide them over to a home meal), and of course stuff to entertain a kid.