Safe junk in my trunk
This article is sponsored by State Farm. Most of the money I made has already been spent on flares and jumper cables.
Road trips don’t just happen in the summer, but all of you traveling moms already know that. With temperatures dipping in to “clearly we’ve pissed off Mother Nature and now we are all going to die” zones it’s time to think about the junk in your trunk.
I’m a safety nut. I have a fire extinguisher in every bedroom, when I was a kid I had an escape ladder made of sheets tied together under my bed and a stash of bouillon cubes (don’t ask, I read it somewhere, and I was 9). When I was asked to write this post I went and looked at my trunk. This was my safety item.
If I need to play an emergency game of doubles I am READY
If there is no tennis emergency, I am screwed.
Did you all read the story about the family that went to cut down their own Christmas tree and got stuck? First of all, that’s a very good reason not to go cutting down your own tree. But that was on my mind as I was driving my boys to northern Connecticut this weekend for a gymnastics meet. In the pre-dawn hours on icy roads I had my most precious cargo, my babies, and nothing more to take care of them than a Grande Latte and Babolat racquet.
If your trunk is as useless as mine in a winter emergency (or any emergency really) you can win a Trunk Safety Makeover from State Farm (they are giving away five of them), or $100 Visa Gift Cards (they are giving away three) to use toward your own hardware store shopping spree. Join in the Traveling Mom Twitter Party next Monday, January 13, 2014. You need to RSVP to be entered to win. RSVP HERE.
I made over my own trunk this morning with a trip to the local hardware store. I filled our beach tote (won’t be needing that for a while) with the following:
Less than $50 at the hardware store
- Blanket. You never think about how you’d stay warm if you slide off the road and it’s 4 degrees out. I only put one in, so I guess the kids are out of luck.
- Flashlight. It’s the kind that also converts in to a lantern.
- Road flares. I have no idea how the work, hopefully I won’t ever have to figure it out.
- Jumper cables. I actually know how to jump start a car. When I got my license my dad taught me to jump a car and to change a spare tire. I once caught a ride home across the mountains from college with a bunch of boys. The tire on the car blew out, guess who had to teach the boys how to change a tire?
- Hand warmers, snacks, matches and a first aid kit. All of these items just seemed very useful and like something a good mom would have.
Always travel with a cell phone charger, can you imagine being stranded with a dead cell phone? State Farm has a great site that gives good tips on preparing your car for winter travel and a list of emergency items on hand, a tennis racquet is sadly not amongst them. Seriously, take a minute and read HERE, it could save your life. I need to add some kitty litter, if you need to get out of a slick spot, it will do the trick.
Where are you headed on the icy winter roads this winter? Tell me, and send me pictures of your newly safe trunks.
Disclosure: I am not insured by State Farm, I am a paid panelist for the twitter party, this post is part of the contract. I really did buy all of these items and I really do feel better now.