Back To School: Stocking the Backpack

I cannot believe school is back in session! Higgins still has a week or so until he starts, so I'm not quite empty during the mornings yet. We have all our school supplies ready and the backpacks are stocked.

I tend to be a worrier, especially about the kids. Last year, I started stocking Bernardo's backpack with an emergency kit. Why do I have the kit in his bag? Each year I see schools delayed for weather, buses broken down with kids still in them, and images from the news of buses in accidents and other school problems. I decided my kids should have something in their bags in case they got stuck on the bus or at school.

What's in the kit? It's not a big kit, it fits in a plastic pencil case. There is also a small bottle of water in a Ziploc bag in the same pocket of his backpack, but of course it was too big for the pencil case. I try to keep a variety of things in the kit:

• Band-aides
• Finger flashlight
• $1.75 in quarters for pay phones. There are still a few around and my kids are too young to have a cell phone yet.
• Picture phone list (it could just be a regular phone list for older kids)
• Pen
• A few pieces of paper
• A little bag of nuts (you can buy small bags at the store, or ask for extra nuts when you get a sundae at McD's)
• Granola bar
• A couple of suckers/lollipops
• Piece of candy

It's not a lot, but I feel better that if there was an ice storm/tornado/emergency, that there would be something to hold him over for a little bit until I could get to him.

You might also enjoy:
Easy 1st Aide Kit
Picture Phone List For Kids