Monday it was complete chaos on one of the main roads through Belgium. A dramatic accident involving trucks made traffic between two crucial cities impossible. People stood still in their cars for almost seven hours! Seven hours! I couldn’t help but imagine: what if I had been one of them and Little Boy was in that car? How on earth would I have managed?
From this weekend on, there will be in my car at all times:
- at least one large bottle of water and a cup.
- crackers and if possible an apple (please don’t ask me how I plan to keep fruits fresh in my car, it’s just an idea)
- an extra blanket (there’s already one in my trunk)
- entertainment! I think a few new books, maybe a ‘surprise purse’ with mommy-like stuff, CD with popular songs for children,..
- a few diapers and wet wipes
Oh lord. While I’m typing those last ones… I can’t do anything but pray that I have been to the loo before leaving. I do have a roll of toilet paper in my car, but how would I use it the way it was meant if there was no possibility for me to leave the car (and leave Little Boy unattended?).
Oh lord again. I have been in a huge traffic jam when I was a kid, but it was on our way to our holiday destination, the reason was a strike/blockade by angry truckers and when they saw my exhausted parents, with three kids on the backseat, one of them being a sleeping baby, they let us pass. That’s a whole different story. What if you cannot escape and you do have a (not) sleeping baby in the backseat? FOR SEVEN HOURS?
Breathe. Breathe.
Maybe I should stop driving any place with a child in my car.
Songs of Home 
Every winter here there is some huge blizzard that leaves hundreds of cars stuck on the expressway for 24 hours or more unable to move. I always keep a winter car kit with food, blankets, flares, tp, tissues, wipes, batteries, flashlights, a few books, extra clothing, bottles of water. Thankfully I have never had to use that since we try to just stay home when there are storms coming. But it made me realize I should have some sort of summer pack too – just snacks, clothes, wipes, etc. in case we are ever stuck out!