Items To Always Have On Hand

Dan and I had a tough week. Between both of us having a stomach virus and a power outage for half a day, I've been VERY thankful for some stored essentials in our house. There also a couple of things I wish we had and I'm definitely going to buy them off Amazon before another crazy week occurs. Hopefully this list could help supplement what emergency items you already have in your house.

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Dealing with being sick
1. Clorex Wipes- I love these things.
2. Carpet Cleaner- we used a pet carpet cleaner since that's what we had on hand and it seemed to be fairly effective.
3. Lots of Paper Towels- We only had a couple of rolls, but I'm glad we had them on hand.
4. Extra change of clothes
5. Trash Bags
6. Buckets/Large Bowls- Always have this by your side just in case.
7. Bleach- Just a little bit of this in a toilet really kills the germs and smells.
8. Hand Soap- Lots of it to prevent spreading it to other people.
9. Ginger Ale/Gatorade/ Pedialyte- I found it good to mix up the fluids I drank to keep it interesting. At first I would stir the ginger ale until the bubbles were gone, but eventually I made it to drinking it straight from the can.
10. Saltine Crackers- There is nothing better at settling a stomach than saltine crackers. Always have some of these on hand (and make sure they aren't stale).
11. Soup- A few different varieties came in handy, especially since Dan was also sick.
12. Over the counter medicine- Tylenol, Pepto Bismal, NyQuil, etc.
13. Tissues- Not really for stomach bugs, but good for colds. I'm a fan of the lotion tissues when I have a cold to help prevent "tissue burn".
14. Non-Caffeinated Herbal Tea- chamomile and peppermint are my favorites.
15. Applesauce- part of the BRAT diet (bananas, white rice, applesauce, and white dry toast) to eat when you are recovering from a stomach bug.
16. Thermometer

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Power Outage
1. Bottled Water- While your water should fine, its easier than fumbling with a glass to get something to drink.
2. Flashlights- With working batteries in a place where you know they are.
3. Standing Lantern- I got these off of Amazon. They are compact, very bright, and automatically turn on when you pull the lantern open. Plus they operate on AA batteries, so we didn't need to get special batteries for them.
4. Extra Batteries- for said flashlights and lanterns.
5. Plenty of food in the pantry to eat- granola bars, crackers, etc. We kept our fridge closed in order to keep the temperatures cooler so our food wouldn't spoil.

Hopefully none of you encounter the stomach bug or have a power outage in the same week, but it's always good to be prepared!