I have a very dear French friend who is so chic and cool she has a private instagram and says “beach” instead of “bitch.” We have essentially raised our children together and her level of organization and cleanliness is so impressive it teeters on annoying.
Okay, so this friend of mine is notorious in our tight-knit mom group for a little caddy she keeps with her kids’ hygiene products that we have appropriately named: The French Caddy. It’s honestly brilliant. I always thought French people were known for not being very clean or showering regularly—apparently, I was wrong.
After a lice scare, her kids were left miraculously unscathed thanks to rosemary spray she spritzes on them when they run out the door. To be fair, I had the same exact rosemary spray but it was hidden (and unused) in an unknown under-the-sink cabinet somewhere in the house. Not my French friend’s though—hers lives in the caddy, step three of the morning routine.
So with her permission (as you can see), I’m sharing this genius kids hygiene organization hack with all of you. Candidly, I stole the idea outright, so what's below is my version with a few of her cleanliness-obsessed tricks.
Rosemary spray (of course): Apparently lice don’t like the smell of rosemary so this is a good repellent. It’s all natural, and truthfully even if it only half works, it’s worth it. Lice are the worst.
Saline nasal spray: A little spritz to clear them out. There's decent evidence that salt water shortens colds in little kids.
Baby wipes: Leftover breakfast on their face, dirty hands, pull up messes, got that covered.
Toothbrushes and toothpaste: For ages I struggled with morning teeth brushing because their toothbrushes were upstairs. The caddy fixes that!
Alcohol wipes: These are kind of more for me, because the kids can be gross.
Dog bags: Sometimes Freya has a surprise for me in her pull up.
Vitamins: I have spots for my kids’ multi vitamins and these handy immune packets that they love. Of course they each need their own container of the exact same vitamin, but luckily there is room.
Hair brush and hair ties: Girl moms, you know what I mean.
Moisturizer: Freya has dry skin and it’s handy to have a bottle of Mustela in there.
Sunscreen: Both a face stick and something for their bodies.
I sent this post to the caddy creator herself before it went live, and (of course) she had some more tips and edits. A few more things that I apparently need to add to the rotation:
Micellar water for face wash (I bought this immediately)
Organic cotton squares: she specifically recommended these “jumbo” ones
Gauze for eye cleaning (I inquired why both cotton squares and gauze, and the answer is sterility—bien sûr)
Sérum physiologique to clean eyes (which, I have since learned, is a fancy French way of saying saline)
Silicone scar sheets (never knew about these!)
What I love most is that it’s everything you need, in the place where you need it. Yours will look different (fewer gauze squares, perhaps). But I will say I have now bought French micellar water for my kids’ face, so who’s to say where this ends.
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