As my kids are getting older, nap time has been more flexible for us.  Reagan (17 months) is the only one that naps anymore and she can be flexible.  Often we will be out at the park or running errands and (since we don’t have to be home for set naps) I think “oh, if we could only do one more store before heading home”.  Other times, we will be out as a family and plans change randomly and we are out longer than we expected.  I often bring little snacks in the van and let them eat them out of our plastic containers.  But, in a lot of cases (where our plans have changed), we might run into Trader Joes for a bag of crackers or some kind of snack.  We hadn’t planned on being out long enough to need a snack, so I didn’t have one with us.  I get back in the van with the much needed snack and am at a loss as to how to pass it out.  This little snack is so important to revive all of our little attitudes and energy:), so there has been many a creative ways we have come up with for these snacks to be handed out in the car.

The other day, I came up with what I thought was a genius idea.  I bought a package of plastic cups at Target to solely keep in the van for these very incidents!  No more looking for snack containers/plastic bowls left in the van to reuse…or even leaving those containers in the van!  Now, I simply can throw the cups away when we get to our destination!  The other morning we were headed to my mom’s to go swimming in her pool and went through Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  After getting our food, I quickly started trying to figure out how I was going to divide it up so the kids each had a way to hold it and eat…until I remembered my cups!  What an easy lifesaver!!  I then didn’t have any greasy dishes cooking in my van all day either!  I threw those cups away when I got to my mom’s!

I know it’s not a good habit to eat in the car.  We don’t make it a habit or want it to be a regular thing, but let’s face it!  It happens!  Why not make it easier!?!

My little girl can totally eat cut up chicken minis out of cup, but couldn’t hold a wrapper and eat a whole chicken biscuit.  This helps her be happy as she can eat and doesn’t have to wait untill we arrived at my mom’s, but it also made me happy because I didn’t have to keep reaching behind me to hand her small bites.  Genius I tell you.

Happy kids=a happy mommy

Next time you find yourself at Target, I highly recommend picking up a stack of their cups to leave in your van for easy on the go snacks!