There’s no denying that once you become a parent life changes forever, and you start seeing very basic things in a whole new light. During the newborn stage I spent a huge amount of time driving around convincing my baby to go to sleep and stay asleep. The car became a safe haven, allowing me to indulge in the peace of a car nap, and drive thru anythings became a total godsend once I discovered a running engine was the only thing that kept my baby asleep. I’ve driven a huge amount of miles since becoming a mum and stopped at many service and petrol stations, and they have been a life saver more than once. Even now we are in the toddler stage I still find myself appreciating a petrol stop, especially as modern filling stations are accompanied by so many new amenities. So as a tribute to one of my top parenting life savers, and in collaboration with petrol filling station insurance from Forum Insurace, here’s 9 reasons to love the modern petrol station.
- Pay at Pump – I am always short of time, and toddlers aren’t known for their patience, so pay at pump is often a total god send. Instead of having to leave your children in the car whilst you go queue up inside to pay for your fuel you can do it all right at the pump. What did people do before pay at pump existed?! I’m also a huge fan of the drive thru petrol stations now popping up for the same reason.
- Grabbing some essentials – Food shopping with a toddler is only for the brave, and sometimes it’s better to avoid it all together and just pop into your local petrol station to pick up something for dinner, avoiding the carnage of a full shop.
- Coffee! – My friend Hannah from Hi Baby Blog is a huge fan of filling stations serving the essential ingredient for a family car journey – caffeine. Road trips are pretty ugly without it and grabbing it whilst you’re getting fuel is so much easier than making a separate stop.
- Car washes – It can’t just be my toddler who appreciates the magical entertaining qualities of a car wash?! Better than a day out at a theme park, way cheaper, and usually right on your door step attached to your local petrol station.
- Snacks – for me and for my toddler. Snacks make us happy. Whether it’s grabbing a sandwich because I haven’t eaten real food all day, or grabbing a packet of crisps to keep Dil happy on a road trip, I can always grab what I need while I get fuel. Sometimes being able to grab a sandwich and a drink from the local petrol station whilst filling up was the only way I managed a semi healthy meal in the newborn stage.
- Cash machines – I’m never fully prepared for a day out and cash is something I always forget, so it’s handy to be able to use the cash machine after I’ve got petrol. Kelly from The Best Version of Kelly agrees.
- Air Pumps – these have saved their fair share of family days out I’m sure. Alex from Better Together Home averted a flat bike tyre related crisis thanks to the pump at her local petrol station.
- Opening hours – whether its 5 pm on a Sunday or even Christmas Eve you can rely on petrol stations to be open after the supermarkets have closed. Great if you’ve forgotten to get milk on Christmas Day as Beth from Twinderelmo discovered.
- Toilets – if you’re potty training or have ever potty trained a toddler then I don’t need to explain how essential these can be! Thanks Kerry from All About a Mini Norris for reminding me of this one!
*This is a collaborative post*
