Keeping A Safe Box For Kidlet
I am in the midst of moving house. And, needless to say it is a bit chaotic with so many things to be done. Moving house means shifting not only yourself and your belongings but also updating the numerous connections that use your current communication address to, well, communicate!
While I was sitting and sorting out all the paperwork and boxes of letters and other documents (really its hard to believe that we live in paper-less times!) an idea hit me. I realized that I needed a box of documents specifically for Kidlet. Marked and kept aside under her name. Not just for classification purposes, but also for times like moving when important documents tend to get scattered about in the confusion.
With this thought in mind, I have come up with a list of documents to be kept in this box. And, I would like to share it with you here:
1. Birth certificate: For obvious reasons. The most important document that will be pulled up time and again in Kidlet’s life. And it needs to be kept safely. Very Safely.
2. Vaccination card: This is something that I have lost once – while moving, when else? I still have no record of the vaccinations given to Kidlet in the first year of her life. Luckily for me I knew that all the vaccines were up to date – but which date were they given? Bummer! So, now, the vaccination schedule goes into this box. Cannot risk losing it again.
3. Blood group: I know, I know, it’s a small thing. Plus I know her blood group. But in case I’m not around (and I really don’t trust the husband’s memory on things like this) – in it goes!
4. Paediatrician/Local ERs phone numbers: Again, something that has already been saved on my phone but not everyone in the family has it.
5. Chronology of medications taken in one calendar year: Now this is not something very intuitive especially if you have a file or a folder for your pediatrician visits. I don’t. And then there are also the times when we treat children at home without Doctor’s prescriptions (avoidable, but we all know that it happens). I have a feeling that keeping a list of which medications have been administered to the child for what duration and when will help us make better judgments during any future medical crises – what say?
6. Height and weight charts: again not very intuitive, but makes sense to maintain and save one. It’s a memory and a record that deserves to be kept safely (and if I am correct Doctor’s offices stop measuring their height after they are 3).
7. School reports: I’ll eventually have another box for all school related stuff – but for the time being the school report cards also go here. Mainly to keep them safe from loitering around in the huge mass of ‘important’ papers!
8. Photocopies of school id, school and teacher’s phone numbers, bus attendants numbers, bus registration no. : Very, very important. Has to be pasted in triplicate around the house. But I need to keep the master copy in the safe box.
9. Additional passport size pictures: Almost every second day it seems I need a passport size picture of my child. I’ll be keeping many extra copies handy in the box. Also a CD of the soft copy. And ahem, children keep growing so one needs to keep getting the PP pictures updated. (This one is especially for people like me, who have tried to pass off 3-year-old Kidlet as 5! Sigh!)
10. Any insurance cards or documents made in the name of the child (Passport, Aadhar card etc.): Since I don’t want to keep the originals in this box, keeping a photocopy would be useful.
What else? What else?
Do you have a similar concept that you use to keep your child’s important information safe and in one place? I would love to hear of more ideas and tips on this subject.
Nidhi Dorairaj Bruce is a Freelance writer from Mumbai. With no formal education in Parenting, she has been getting on-the-job training ever since her daughter, affectionately referred to as ‘the kidlet’, arrived on the scene 5 years ago. On Twitter, you can connect with Nidhi @typewritermom
