A Helpful Idea for a Long Car Ride

We just returned from a wonderful week in the Outerbanks, North Carolina. It's a long drive from PA, about 8 hours and as you know, we have 2 kids. Trying to keep them occupied and happy for a long driving adventure can be a challenge. It's gotten easier as they've gotten older. I wanted to share with you an idea that came in extremely handy this year.

My daughter is an avid artist. She draws and colors every day, nearly all day. It keeps her busy and she enjoys it. We got a "new" minivan recently and it has 2 captains chairs instead of a bench seat. That little detail impacted my little artist greatly as she had no where to put her arsenal of coloring equipment in the car. Once buckled she couldn't reach it if it was on the floor. And when she put it on her lap (which isn't big enough for a container of pencils AND her drawing pad) they fell off and spilled all over. I knew I had to think of something better.

So my solution...a cosmetic bag. These were my stipulations -- it had to have clear, zippered pockets -- it had to hang from the top -- it had to fold up when it was done being used. I found the perfect one at Target. It wound up being a great option. With clear pockets she could find the color she wanted without taking all of them out. It could be organized with markers in one pocket, colored pencils in another, and crayons in a another. They all zip so there was no mess. It could hang on the seat in front of her. And when she was done with it, the whole thing folded up and attached to itself with velcro.

Anyway, I just wanted to share because it made my artist happy. And if my artist was happy, everyone was happy!