Did you ever notice that the greatest “make life easy” inventions seem to come from parents who have had to deal with some kind of frustration or inefficiency for long enough that they decide they can come up with an ingenious solution? Well I have found another one of these inventions. And, as I find with most of these types of things, it’s a “duh- why didn’t I think of that??” idea. This is specifically geared toward anyone who has to carry an Epi-Pen – a prescription injector that is for life-threatening allergies like food allergies or bee sting allergies. These injectors need to be on parents of children who suffer from the allergies at all times. A matter of 1-2 minutes can mean life or death (so keeping one “nearby, in the car for instance, can be a deadly mistake). The unfortunate thing is, they are awkward to carry, and you typically need to keep two on hand, making it doubly awkward.

But fine, no worries. You can pop them in your pocketbook (mom) or in your back pocket (dad) when going out. But what happens when the child gets older and needs to have them on hand but is going somewhere without his or her backpack? Or what if you are an adult who suffers from an allergy and you want to go out for a run, or do something where carrying a bag is not convenient? Since fanny-packs are long out of fashion, there have been few alternatives, other than carrying the “pens” in your hand.

So along comes a pair of ingenious moms. They, like me, became concerned about their nut-allergy kids as they got older and started going off on their own. A bike ride to a friend’s house, a trip into the town center for an ice cream, a soccer practice. What could they do to ensure that the Epi-Pens would be on hand? So they put their heads together and came up with a simple yet smart solution – called Take In Case. It’s a sleeve made of a stretchy material that has a little padding. The whole thing measures about 6 inches wide and 8 inches long, and it has two pockets that securely hold an Epi Pen each. VOILA! Now any child (recommended ages 10 and up) or adult can carry the Epi Pens on their arm or calf and keep their hands free.

We have been using this for a couple of weeks now and it has been great. My son is 10 years old but is, um, a little “slender” (ok – he’s as skinny as a rail) so it’s a little big for his arm, but he still puts it there anyway, and he actually doesn’t mind carrying it. Not bad!

Check out this site TakeInCase.com for a lot more information, and to find out how to order the case. From my perspective, it’s $25 well spent. And a portion of the sale goes to support food allergy research as well!