My Five Mom-Inspired Driving Tips:

When you are driving somewhere with your family, please remember my Five Mom-Inspired Driving Tips. I am always worried about myself and other moms driving on the road and at the many distractions we face today, verses twenty years ago.

1) Make sure your children are securely buckled in their car seats.
- Sometimes I let my four and two and a half year old climb into their own car seats, and then I go to open my door, and remember that I forgot to buckle one, or both of them in. Very rarely does this ever happen. But every so often my four year old will scream at me "Mom, you forgot to buckle me in!"

2) Don't let anything, or anyone distract you from driving.
- Don't have the radio up too loud. I know that when I am driving in the car with my children, that I sometimes forget to do this. But we should all keep our radios down this way we will be able to hear any emergency vehicles, police cars, or trains crossing the train tracks.

- Let your cell phone ring, or your cell phone beep when text messages come through. You can check it when you stop at your destination, or you can find somewhere safely to pull over to check it. More and more people are talking on their cell phones and driving, and they are causing some major accidents on the road. Just today, my neighbor, and older woman, was holding her cell phone against her ear with one hand and smoking a cigarette and trying to steer the car with the other.

- If your children are fighting, screaming, or crying in the vehicle, then find somewhere safe to pull over before you reach, or look in the backseat to try to deal with them.

3) Listen to your own Woman's Intuition
When you feel uneasy about making a right or left turn, or about driving through an intersection right when the light turns green, then wait a few seconds. Double and triple check the lights, and where the other vehicles are and where they are going. Then proceed through the intersection or make a turn when you feel that it's safe to do so. 

4) Always check the weather before you leave your house.
- This way you know if you and your children need to be wearing jackets, rain boots, mittens, etc. Plus, you will know what to expect while your driving, rain, snow, sleet, hail, tornadoes, or the bright sun. I know that sunlight brightly reflecting off of another vehicle can be blinding at times, and make it hard for me to see where I am going.

5) Always keep an emergency kit in each one of your vehicles.
- Make sure this kit includes road flares, matches, flashlights, batteries, a small battery operated radio, jumper cables, blankets (one for each person in the vehicle, twin size or bigger), bottles or gallon sized jugs of water, grocery bags, a few rolls of toilet paper, snack foods, and whatever else you feel might come in handy for you and your family. We always keep blankets in our vehicles for us and our children. We live in middle Tennessee, and you never know when you might get stuck on the freeway, in a snow storm because of a major accident. Once your vehicle is parked and there is no where for you to go, you are stuck, and your heater isn't going to work forever, especially if it's not going anywhere.

Check out the Esurance mobile app on your Smartphone! It has a feature that lets you know the status of your repairs while your car is at the shop (and even lets you see pictures). Go to the Esurance website to check out the Car Insurance Myths and Car Insurance FAQs for lots of helpful information.



Follow @esurance on Twitter


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Esurance blogging program for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Top 3 Reasons Why a KRE-O Set is a Great Christmas Gift For Children and How to Spread Holiday Cheer During Family Gatherings!

The third Transformers movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was a huge this past summer and the KRE-O collection is inspired by the Generation 1 Transformers from the 1980’s! Here are my Top three reasons why I feel that a KRE-O Transformers set is a great holiday gift for children (6 years and older), and for other members of your family.

First, a KRE-O Transformers set would be a great small gift to take along when you go to visit other friends and family for the holidays! It would help to keep your child or children busy while you are visiting with others. (There are 12 KRE-O Transformers sets, from basic sets for beginners, to deluxe sets for older, more advanced children or adults, to put together. The sets range in price from $7.99-$59.99 and each set allows kids to construct one of two models: a Transformers character in robot or vehicle mode offering two different builds in one!)

Second, what six year old boy doesn't like Transformers? Most four year old little boys that I have met lately love transformers and learning to put toys together! These sets could help them with their coordination and building skills. Helping your child build their KRE-O transformers set, can also help with child/parent bonding.

Third, most children, boys and girls, love building things with blocks! Creating and building objects with blocks can help to encourage a child's creativity, and they are great for kids who like to play with building and construction toys! When children build something on their own, they feel really really good about themselves and proud of their accomplishments. (KRE-O bricks are compatible with other leading brick based sets on the market so families don’t have to invest in a new brick system or worry about mixing up bricks and blocks!)

KRE-O toys are construction-toy friendly and are a great addition to a kid's building adventures! For more information about KRE-O Transformers sets and to purchase them today, go to Hasbro.com/kre-o.

(my own personal photo)

Every year after Thanksgiving is over, we put up our Christmas Tree, decorate it with ornaments, and decorate the rest of our home inside and out with holiday decorations! Here are my Top Tips for Spreading Holiday Cheer during your family gatherings!

Put a Christmas tree up and decorate it a few weeks or so ahead of time, along with decorating the inside and outside of your home. You could also tell everyone to wear something red or green!

(image credit)

Bake holiday cookies, brownies, banana bread, pumpkin bread, fudge, fruit cake (yes, I like fruit cake), whatever you enjoy baking, and put together a few trays of goodies to share with everyone. This is a huge tradition in our family. As we bake from now until Christmas Eve! We enjoy mailing and sharing our baked goods with others so much, that it's the highlight of our holiday season! (Make sure you play Christmas music while baking, it will help you and those in your home while your baking, to get into the Christmas spirit!)

Play Christmas music in the background while everyone is visiting and mingling either one another! This will help to keep the Christmas season and spirit going.

If you have your Christmas party before Christmas, say, two weeks before, then have every guest bring one unwrapped toy and state on their invitation that you are going to donate them to Toys For Tots! What a great way for everyone to give back to a great charity! I am not much for white elephant gifts, and I don't like blind Christmas gift exchanges. This way, everyone feels good about what they are doing when they come to your party! 


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Tips to Help You and Your Family Stay Cold and Flu Free This Season!

Every year my family and I catch colds, and at least once a year, we catch the flu. Every year, in October, my children, husband, and I get the flu shot. I don't know if it really helps us or not, but we do other things all year long to help protect us and our children from getting sick.

We keep Lysol Wipes and baby wipes in our cupboards and we do my best to wipe down the door knobs, faucet handles, and light switches in our home as much as possible. My husband comes home from work and he is almost always telling me that someone came to work sick or with cold. So when he comes home and touches everything, I go through the house and wipe things down. I don't like getting sick, and I really don't like listening to my children congested and coughing. My two year old daughter has allergies, and when she catches a cold, it lasts twice as long as it normally would. She has currently been coughing and congested for about a month now. My poor sweet baby girl.

I like green cleaners, but every few weeks I like to clean the sinks, bathtubs, and toilets with Lysol with Bleach! Not to mention, it makes my hands and house smell clean! We had a birthday party for our children last weekend, and everything in our home smelled so nice and clean for a few days. I loved it! I am about to clean the house again, just so it will smell clean again!

We try our best to wash our hands and our children's hands as much as possible. We keep anti-bacterial soaps in the house in all three of our bathrooms and next to our kitchen sink. I love having different scented hand soaps near every sink! I purposely wash my hands sometimes, just to smell the soap! My children love the SpongeBob foaming hand soap. I hardly let them watch SpongeBob, but they know who he is.

We also keep boxes of tissues in every bathroom, beside our bed, beside the kitchen trashcan, and one box on the dining room table. We our working on teaching our two and four year olds to use tissues to wipe their nose. Our four year old son has a bad habit of using his t-shirt instead. We are also teaching them to cough and sneeze onto their hands, or into the crooks of their arms. I don't care which one they decide to do, as long as they stop coughing and sneezing directly into the air, on their toys, in each others faces, or in my face. I don't like having my children come up to me and cough or sneeze in my face, it's not nice, and I wouldn't want them doing it to someone else.

I also keep a few packs of Boogie Wipes laying around the house and one pack in the diaper bag at all times. My children love these and they work really well to wipe boogies from a sore, yucky little nose.

I almost forgot, we keep a pack of Lysol anti-bacterial wipes in our vehicles. This way when we go over to friend's houses for play dates, our to the park, or to a fast food restaurant with a play area, I can wipe our children's hands and faces as soon as they get into the car! This way they won't bring anything that they got on their hands onto their car seats or into our home.

I hope that you and your family have your own tricks to keep them cold and flu free this season! If you have anymore ideas, I would love to hear them! We can all use more ideas on how to keep our family cold and flu free!

Like Lysol® on Facebook and get a flu shot badge and an opportunity to receive a $5 flu shot rebate. Learn more about the flu rebate at www.lysol.com/flufree123.


Tweet:
Tips to Help You and Your Family Stay Cold and Flu Free This Season!  http://airplanesanddragonflies.blogspot.com/2011/10/tips-to-help-you-and-your-family-stay.html  #lysolcoldandflu 


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Lysol blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

De-clutter and Organize Toys in Your Child’s Playroom Today!

We have two playrooms in our house! One is up in the room/den above our garage, and the other one is in my daughter's bedroom/playroom. It can be very hard to keep all of the toys organized and put in the correct bins. I find that having a place for almost every toy and book is key!

Here are my Ten Best Strategies for De-Cluttering and Organizing Toys in Your Child's Playroom:

1) Never leave the playroom without picking up some or all of the toys.

2) Make it a fun game to pick up the toys! See who can pick up and put away the most toys the fastest! My two children, ages two and four love this game!

3) Have a place for the books, cars, blocks, dolls and stuffed animals, etc. Every toy should have a place to go when it's put away.

4) Go through the toys in your children's playroom once a month, and put away any toys that they aren't playing with. Wait for a few months, and bring those toys out again for your children to enjoy. If they aren't playing with them at all, then it's time to donate them, take them to a Consignment Sale, give them away to a younger child, or have a yard sale!

5) Put away or get rid of baby toys. I had two dozen baby toys in the toy box that our children weren't playing with, so I put them away for a future child to use, or to give away to a friend in a few months who just had a newborn baby!

6) Teach your children to keep Mr. Potato Head pieces together, Duplos inside of a certain box or bin, books together, etc. I find this difficult, as my children are still young. They don't realize that everything should be kept together.

7) Sort though the toy box and match up any toys that should go together. Put the Little People with the Little people house, animals with the farm house, cars with the race track pieces, trains with the train tracks, etc. I am constantly doing this. When my children do help me pick things up, every little piece, including puzzle pieces, end up in the toy box.

8) Clean up any toys that you trip over or that are in your way. Ask your children to keep certain paths, like to doors and windows, clear of toys, etc. This will help you and your children to get to the doors or windows quickly in case of an emergency too! My children might be little, but they do understand not to block the path to our bookcase, not to put toys near our dog's kennels, or to block the gate that leads downstairs with toys. They are really good about this. We have been teaching them to keep the paths clear since they could crawl.

9) Take some toys to the babysitters house, or to grandmas! This way, when your children are over there visiting, they will have some toys to play with that belong to them!

10) Ask Grandparents to buy small toys, books, or clothes for your children, and to put the rest of the money that they might have spent on toys, into your child's college fund! We have been doing this since our children were born. We have so many toys, and our children really don't need any more. So when we receive cash or checks for our children for their birthdays or holidays, we put the money into their bank accounts! They can then have this money after they graduate to use for college, a new car, or to move out!


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hot Wheels® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Turn off the TV and Go Play Outside This Saturday in Celebration of Worldwide Day of Play!

The Worldwide Day of Play is on September 24th, 2011! It's the centerpiece of Nickelodeon's "The Big Help," a program set up to empower kids and families to make healthy lifestyle choices every day. On Saturday, September 24th, kids and families are being encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Day of Play to turn off the TV and play outside. Being physical and playing outside can improve your health and the health of your family, as well as the self-esteem and well being of children. Teach your children about being healthy and limit the amount of TV they watch daily. Encourage them to be more physical and to play outside a few times a day.

 

 

Clorox 2® is a proud sponsor of Nickelodeon's 8th Annual Worldwide Day of Play, take the Clorox2® Play 2Day pledge to play outside! 

 

My children and I spend at least one to two days a week outside playing. We take walks, ride bikes, they play in their kiddie pool, blow bubbles, have races, draw on our drive way or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, run and play with our dogs, fly kites, play in our above ground swimming pool, and more! My children love to paint, color, and play with play dough! It's so much easier to clean up these messes outside then it is inside! I just grab the hose to rinse off my children and their messes! They really love running through the spray from the hose!

 

My friends and I set up weekly play dates at our local park. It's great to catch up and watch our children play together! I always keep a camera in my pocket too! It's so great to get photos of my children playing at the park, and I don't have to turn on the lights in our home to get a great photo. For more Tips and ideas on what you and your children can do outside, check here.

(photo credit)

We will soon be able to play in Autumn colored piles of leaves that our neighbors trees have dropped on the ground! I can hardly wait! This also makes for some great memories, and photos to use on Christmas Cards!

Click today and Pledge to take your children outside more often! You can also click on activities after taking the Clorox2® Play 2Day pledge to play outside. Choose up to three activities a day for three chances to Win something from Clorox2! 

When you and your family are done playing outside and their clothes are stained, there are even tips on the Clorox2 Website on how to clean out stains using Clorox2, such as Grass, Blood, Dirt, and Mud! You can also download a FREE myStain Smartphone Application for your iPhone or Smartphone! 


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Host a Play-Doh Play-Date Today in Your Home!

My children and I had a Play-Doh Play-Date! I set up the Play-Doh for them with some little cookie cutters and they had so much fun making animals with it! I haven't played with Play-Doh since I was a child, so this was really fun for me!

I found some great ideas on the Hasbro website that I never knew existed! Hasbro has a Play-Doh Play-Dates Website that has different themes to give you some ideas of easy things to create with Play-Doh! Each theme includes step-by-step instructions on how to create Play-Doh Fresh Ideas, Printable Crafts, and Healthy Snacks to help you host the perfect Play-Doh Play-Date! Children really love, and benefit from imaginative play!

I printed out a little coloring book for my two year old daughter. She loved it! She asked for it again tonight to color in while I was feeding her dinner! The little book includes tracing A,B,C's, Tracing Numbers, Dot to Dot, Learning Color mixing, and more! The coloring book is only two, eight and a half by eleven sheets of paper. You can cut the pages and then staple them together, or you can fold them three times, use a glue stick to glue the blank pages together, and then staple the top and bottom, or just the middle, of the little coloring book! It was very easy to do!

I printed out the pizza box because it looked really east to put together, and I had some light weight cardboard from some pajamas that I recently purchased for the kids to use up! I try my best to reuse items, or recycle them, so this was perfect! The above photo is what it looked like when I was finished. My four year old son and I used a glue stick to glue the cardboard inside the top of the lid, the bottom of the pizza box, and on the back side of the box for support.

We even tried to make a pizza, but we didn't have the correct colors of dough. So I started with some brown Play-Doh for the pizza crust, and I couldn't figure out what else to put on it. My almost four year old son made a duck, and stuck it on top of the pizza! Then my husband named it the "Wolfgang Duck Pizza!"

Do have some Play-Doh in your home? Host a Play-Doh Play-Date today for your children! The best part, it's FREE!!! They will enjoy it so much, and they will keep asking to play with Play-Doh again the next day. Well, my children did anyway!


Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Play-Doh.

Protect Your Family and Their Futures

Do you have life insurance for you or your family? When we had our first child, we didn't think much about it. But after our daughter was born, we purchased life insurance on them, just in case. We wanted to make sure that we have the money if something happens to them and we need some money to help cover a funeral cost. I pray this never happens to us, or to any of you, but it can.

Did you know that life insurance on your family can cost as little as $20 a month?

Did you know that half of Americans say they are under-insured? That’s 58 million* of us. And 70%* of people with kids under 18 say they would be in serious trouble if something happened to the primary breadwinner.

Do you have enough money in your savings account if you or your spouse were to lose their job tomorrow? We try to keep enough in our savings account to help support us for at least 2 to 3 months, or longer, if my husband's position were to be eliminated tomorrow, or he were to be laid off, or worse, fired. We could probably make that money stretch if we had to, but still, sooner or later, we would run out if him or I couldn't find work right away.

Experts say a good rule of thumb is to insure 5 to 10 times your income. It sounds like a lot, but it’s really not. Think about what you’re really worth.  Life insurance will help cover the cost of your mortgage, medical and funeral expenses, continuing childcare, living expense and college tuition.

Do you have enough money put away for retirement? I know for sure that we don't. My husband's work puts money into an account, but they gamble it, in the stock market. I don't like this idea. I think the most money that he has had in his account has been a little over $100,000. That's not much, considering that would probably only last us for a few years when he retires.

How many people would have to be hired to do all the things you do for your family? Salary.com estimates the average stay-at-home mom would earn $117,867 per year if she were paid for all the work she does.

Most people feel overwhelmed when they think about this stuff. Your local Allstate agent can talk you through your situation and help you plan for the future today. Allstate and their agents have been helping customers protect their families for over 50 years.


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Allstate blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Adventures in Diaper Changing - My Diaper Changing Tips and Tricks

Matthew - Christmas 2007 (He was 2 1/2 months old)

My son Matthew's nick name when he was a baby, was Wiggle Worm. When I would go to change his diapers he would always try to roll over, kick me, or he would turn over on his belly and try to crawl away. He was the squirmiest baby I had ever known. But then, I remembered the trick of putting my left leg over him to hold him still and to help keep him from moving so that I could get his diaper changed. Sometimes he would cry, because he couldn't get away, but after a few times of me using my leg to keep him still to get his diaper changed, he would lay still and let me do it. The photo below is not of me or my son, but I found it online so you can see what I am talking about. Since I am right handed, using my left leg worked great.

(Image credit)

This trick really works! I have been babysitting babies and children since I was twelve years old. I don't remember who taught me to do this, but once I was shown, it was so easy to do. I almost always change my children's diapers on the floor since I learned this trick. It was just easier that way, and so much easier to clean up any messes that might happen.

Another thing that I would do to keep my children still to get their diapers changed was to give them something that they aren't usually allowed to play with such as a toothbrush, empty cup, my keys, the remote control, my cell phone, etc. Giving our children the remote control control to the television or a cell phone to keep them distracted isn't always a good thing because usually, then end up getting sucked on. Eww! There is nothing worse than a sopping wet cell phone or television remote.

The best thing to keep them busy was to give them small toys or rattles to play with that I didn't let them normally have unless they were getting their diapers changed. I kept a small basket on their dressers of little toys like those couple dollar cell phones or keys at the check out stands that are for kids ages three years and up that played sounds or music when the buttons were pressed! Those worked great while they lasted! I didn't even have to use my leg to keep my children in place to get their diapers changed in the beginning. Once they got tired of a certain toy, then the squirming would begin all over again.

When our son was big enough, we used Pull-Ups on him because it was faster and quicker to get them on him so he could take off running. With our daughter, we are now using the NEW Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers! These are awesome and so easy to take on and off. What a great way to also help get your little one ready for potty training!

What are your tips and tricks for getting children to sit still when you try to change their diapers? 

Like Huggies on Facebook

Follow @huggies on Twitter

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Huggies blogging program, for a gift card worth $35. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

My Daughter is only Two years old, but she has her own style!

My little girl just turned two years old, and she loves clothes, shoes, and more! My daughter Chloe has loved having her hair put in pony tails since she was around a year old. She also loves Bows! Every morning she asks me to put bows in her hair. I think partly, because she doesn't like her hair in her face, and I am the same way. She owns probably around one hundred bows or so, most of them are in pairs so that I can put her hair in two pony tails. Before we had bows, I used those cute, little plastic barrets and the small bows that can be purchased in some stores.

Chloe picks out her clothes and the designs on her shirts. Yes, she is only two years old. But she seems to favor pink, blue, purple, butterflies, flowers, kitties, especially hello kitty, winnie the pooh, and more! She isn't a big fan of black. She owns a pair of black shorts, and they are not her favorite.

She also loves Shoes! What little girl doesn't! She owns one pair of sandals and three pairs of tennis shoes, and a pair of shoo shoes (leather moccasins). If I let her, she would own more shoes, but I try to limit our spending.

Her first dress was purchased from JCPenney for her first Christmas. Most of our family lives in California, and we live in Tennessee, so we stayed home for Christmas the past two years. But it was nice to have something cute to put on her though. The dress was red velvet and the white, long sleeved onesie underneath. The dress had a cute kitty cat on the front of it, and it said "Baby's First Christmas." She looked so cute! It also came with those white pants with red and green polkadots, I forgot about that until I was looking for the photo to share with you.

We also purchased many Carter's outfits for her from JCPenney also! They carry a wide variety of Carter's for newborns, and up to 24 months. As you can see, we almost always dress her up in something cute! But she has almost always chosen her outfit for the day.

Chloe even likes to wear legwarmers! Here is a recent photo of her wearing one of the many pairs that she owns. (These weren't purchased at JCPenney.)

As you can see, she has her own sense of style, she has since she was born! I can't wait to go school shopping with her! Does your son or daughter have a sense of style?


Tweet: My 2 year old daughter Chloe has her own sense of style! http://tinyurl.com/3kkv9zx #jcpback2school @matthewsmommy


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Top Ten Tips For Keeping You and Your Family Safe on the Road!

I have many great memories with my parents and sister growing up when we took road trips and went camping as a family. We had so much fun and I enjoyed not having to do any normal chores around the house. It was nice just not to be at school or at home. We saw trains, (as my father loves trains) sang songs, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, we also visited friends and family, but we mostly went camping! I can't wait until my children are older and we can take them camping. I am not ready to take my almost two year old and almost four year old camping, just yet. My main fear is them getting hurt or me not being able to occupy two toddlers for a few days in a row or more.

Below are my Top Ten Tips for staying safe with your family while on the road.


My Top Ten Tips for keeping your family safe on the Road are: 

1) Never drive a vehicle of any kind when there is a crack in the windshield. With many insurance companies, there is no deductible for the repair. Call Safelite AutoGlass and have them come out to where ever you are and repair the crack for you! An added benefit is that by offering repairs as an alternative to replacement, Safelite AutoGlass saves approximately 35,000 tons of CO2 during windshield production each year, enough to fill the Empire State Building approximately 19 times. In addition, it saves the number of damaged windshields being sent to the landfill by approximately 12,500 tons annually. 

My husband, two children and I went on a month long road trip from Tennessee to California. We drove first though from here to Arizona to visit my mother-in-law. On our way to her house, we had a small crack in our windshield that just kept getting longer, and bigger. The crack was in the middle of the windshield right at the edge where the gasket was holding it in place. The crack in the windshield of our truck went from being a small half inch crack, into eight inches or more, so there was no way that it could have been repaired by Safelite AutoGlass. It was a very scary thing for me for us to drive with the windshield with an ever-growing crack right in the middle of it, but we weren't very far from our destination in Arizona when we noticed it. The following morning we called a windshield repair person. It took a few hours, but we were pleased and relieved when the windshield of our couple month old Truck was fixed again.

2) Always keep a pair of ten to twelve feet long jumper cables and a good First Aid Kit in your vehicle when traveling.

3) Make sure to take along your cell phone chargers in your vehicle and keep your cell phones charged at all times. They might come in handy if you ever need to call for help.

4) Take a case or more of bottled water with you. We used it for drinking and washing our children's hands if they needed it along the way. Sometimes you end up eating in the car, and you need something to wash their hands if they get sticky. You might even need it if your vehicle starts to overheat.

5) Keep road flares in your vehicle when traveling, and even when you aren't. This way people can see you and your vehicle in the middle of the night.

6) Have someone that you call every few hours and let them know your location. This way if something happens and you don't check in with them in a certain amount of time, they know to call the local police or highway patrol to look out for you, or to file missing persons reports.

7) Keep your spare tire filled and ready to go in case you need to change a flat tire on the road.

8) Bring along one or two flashlights with new batteries inside. You might need them to change that flat tire.

9) Take along some extra snacks, food, coats, and one blanket for each person in the vehicle. You might get stuck somewhere for a few hours or more, and the snacks might come in handy when you get hungry. It could get cold and you and your family would need to bundle up with the coats and blankets to keep warm.

10) Spare Cash, $100.00 or more hidden in your vehicle somewhere that only you and your spouse or partner knows where it's hidden. Say you are parked at a gas station and someone robs you at gun point and takes your wallet and makes you clean out your pockets, you will have the extra cash to buy gas or food, or whatever else you and your family might need.

I hope that whatever you and your family do this summer that you have fun and stay safe. These safety tips are based on my own experiences of taking many road trips with my parents and sisters, and also with my husband and children. You can never be too careful. I always say it's better to over pack, then under pack when taking a road trip.


 “I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Safelite blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”