Summer's Must Haves — Medicine Cabinet

I was out for a family walk this morning wearing a sweater because it was in the high 60s/low 70s, chilly for June. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that chilly and I took off my sweater only to panic when I remembered I hadn't applied sunscreen. Why I worried for even a nanosecond is beyond me because I am a mother and therefore seem to have half of my kitchen and medicine cabinet jammed into my stroller at any given time.

But as I type, I realize that's not fair to simply blame my behavior on having produced progeny. Long before I had my son, I prided myself in always having every solution to any problem on hand — be it in my medicine cabinet, kitchen or my purse. It's just who I am as a Classic. It's probably why I titled myself "Chief Problem Solver" when my sister and I started PixiesDidIt! — she's "Chief Vision Dreamer" for a reason but that's a story for another day.

I thought I'd shared four of my newest must-haves. Since some of them are relatively new to me, I thought other Classics a.k.a. Problem Solvers might add them to their repertoire of ripostes to life's frequent jabs and crises.  

Burn Jel: A friend of mine gave me a few samples of this stuff and it sat untouched for a few weeks until I idiotically tried to clean my stove after having just cooked dinner on it. I immediately ran my burned hand under cold water but knew it was too late. Then I remembered the Burn Jel in the cabinet. I put it on and forgot all about the burn. I figured it must've been a minor burn until I did the SAME thing to my hand only worse a few weeks later and voila, no pain and no burn. I was pretty amazed. They've got travel size packets for your purse.

Benadryl Spray: This is essential when you're married to someone who attracts mosquitoes like flies to ... one of those bug zappers. One would think if this were you, you'd wear Off! all of the time but Off! is what my husband thinks of after a mosquito bites him. Benadryl Spray to the rescue. They also have a travel size one, which is much more handy for when your husband is whining at an outdoor summer BBQ.

Imodium AD chewable tablets: I like to have these on hand in each of my bathrooms so that guests don't have to suffer in silence or sheepishly ask me for help. Plus, as mean as this sounds, who really wants to know someone needs that sort of help?  It falls under the category of TMI in my book. Also a good bet are Pepto-Bismol tablets in packets. you can carry these with you and even kids can have them.

Rubbing Alcohol Swabs: I keep rubbing alcohol on hand in my medicine cabinet because it's a staple. But man oh man is there something better — those little alcohol swab packets that you usually see in doctor's office to clean the skin before they draw blood or give you a shot. They are SO handy. You can use them to clean your computer, TV, sunglasses and in a pinch a small cut. I'd advise Bactine for the latter because it lacks the sting. Plus you can put a packet in your purse. Who needs a big bottle of Purel when you can just throw a few of these into your bag?

Originally published June 9, 2011

Summer's Must Haves — Medicine Cabinet