Summer is in full swing. And in the the whole of Rochester there was a joyous exultation, except for those who now complain that it is too hot!

Now that the warm weather is here to seemingly stay, my family is getting out of the house more for a broader range of activities. Over the last few weeks, we eagerly approached several activities only to realize that we were missing an essential item required for participation or a helpful item for cleaning up after said activity. From these mishaps, I will be posting "life hacks" throughout the summer about basic items we've needed on hand at all times to pull off a successful summer excursion. Without further instruction, I present to you...

Plastic Bags

If you're like me, you probably have bags of crumpled bags lying around your house. After unpacking from a big shopping trip, we amass a pile of them with no immediate use.

I can tell you that one of those piles now live in the trunk of our car. The most immediate summer use was to contain soaked bathing suits after a trip to the pool. Everything was packed, neatly and dry, for our day at the pool. However, the end of a trip to the pool cannot be characterized as either neat or dry, and usually involves hungry, exhausted children. It would have been really handy to throw those wet suits and towels in a plastic bag to carry and transport home. It’s hard to believe that something as ubiquitous as a plastic bag is so truly impossible to find when you really need one. And I shudder to share here all of the sanitation-related situations we've encountered where something horrific has been contained within a plastic bag lulling around somewhere in the car. Praise be for those plastic bags!