Make a First Aid Kit

When your mom is a Registered Nurse, your outlook on life can be a wee-bit altered. Our mom worked in the OR for several years and we grew up discussing people’s body parts at the dinner table. Although my father would protest, our mom would wax on about severed fingers, arterial blood spray, and open heart surgery, all while slapping some sweet peas on our plates. Little did we know that it was kind of creepy to be eating our dinner, asking, “So, then what happened, Mom?” However, our dinner-time conversations definitely prepared us for all of the ways that we could get hurt.

It’s very difficult for our Mom to turn off the “nurse-part” of her brain and as a result, this often leads to amusing displays of affection. For example, when my husband and I first moved in together, my parents stopped by to give us a housewarming gift. Normal parents would most likely bring a houseplant, or some tableware, or maybe even a barbecue. But, not our Mom. Instead, she lovingly handed me two enormous Ziploc freezer bags full of gauze pads, band-aids, iodine swabs, sterile tape, butterfly closures, and so on.

As I took the bags from her, she proudly proclaimed, “Now you’ll always be prepared in case of an emergency!” Like I said, the sentiment was there, but the nursing instinct won that battle. (Dad wasn’t any better; he brought us a ½ cord of firewood to “keep us warm.”) Yet, because of all of our Mom’s nursing-quirks, I am a more prepared parent with an incredibly well-stocked First Aid section in my home.

As luck would have it, I’ve managed to create to children who are always getting hurt. It’s not necessarily due to clumsiness, they just find themselves in weird situations…all day long. Like the time my son fell on the dog’s water dish and gave himself a black eye. Or, the time he took a nasty tumble at pre-school and earned his second black eye…

It’s not just him. My daughter is equally good at finding herself in bizarre situations. You know, like the time she got bit by a donkey? I’m laughing as I write this, but that’s another story for a different day. My point is that if you don’t have a First Aid Kit (or two or three) in your home right now, you should take some time this week and make one…because you just never know when the little ones will get hurt and it’s always better to be prepared.

Important Items To Include In Your First Aid Baskets

• Large Neoprene gloves
• Hibi-clens (antiseptic/antimicrobial skin cleanser)
• Witch Hazel (provides relief for minor scrapes and cuts, and insect bites)
• Rubbing Alcohol (antiseptic; good for sterilizing tweezers & sewing needles for splinter removal)
• Hydrogen Peroxide (antiseptic solution for cleaning dirty wounds, bites, etc.)
• Calamine Lotion (provides itch relief for bug bites, poison ivy, etc.)
• Cortizone 10 Ointment
• Benadryl
• Neosporin
• Band-aids
• Butterfly Closures
• Medium sterile gauze pads
• Large Non-stick Pads
• Hypoallergenic First Aid Tape
• Ace Bandages
• Iodine Swab sticks
• Instant Cold Packs
• Instant Heat Packs
• Mineral Ice (for horrible aches and pains)

Don’t forget about about putting a smaller kit in your car. When you have kids, you never know when an emergency will strike – I’ve been very grateful to have extra baby wipes and pain relief options in the car during long car trips!!

• First Aid To Go Kit
• Hand Sanitizer
• Chapstick
• Baby Lotion
• Vaseline
• Deodorant
• Sunscreen
• Pain Relievers (Pack the kids version so you can all use it!)
• Baby Wipes (I keep a roll of toilet paper and a plastic bag in the car too – hey, you never know!)
• Eye Drops (I pack contact drops and allergy drops for the kids.)
• Baby Powder (the perfect solution to getting sand off of kids fast!)

Did I miss anything? Leave us a comment below and let us know what you keep in your first aid kits. We would love to hear from you!

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