One of the hardest parts of sharing custody of a child is not getting to be there for all of their big moments – good or bad.

A couple of years ago, my step-daughter had tonsil surgery and we weren’t able to be there since she lived in Washington and we were living in Nevada. We wanted to make sure that she knew we were thinking of her, so we decided to send her a big tonsil surgery care package.

Our main objective in sending her this box was to bring a smile to her face, provide some activities that will ease the boredom while she recovers, and send her some tasty treats that will be easy to eat.

Whether you’re looking to send a loved one far away a tonsil surgery care package, or whether you’re looking for ideas for a kiddo at home, we hope our package can provide some inspiration! (And be sure to check out our list of additional items that we could have included in our care package!)

Our Care Package (Pictured Below)

Here’s what we included in our care package for my step-daughter:

• A “Get Well Soon” card with a long note written inside (we made sure to tell her how proud of her bravery we were)
• 2 different word-finds
• 48 pack of colored pencils
• Barbie fashion art set
• Clipboard (to make it easier to do things on paper while in bed)
• Tropical Kool Pops (these were unfrozen and will need to be frozen once they arrive in Washington)
• Jolly Rancher Freezer Pops (these were unfrozen and will need to be frozen once they arrive in Washington)
• 3 packets of noodle soup
• Pack of Ring Pops
• Cherry Jell-O
• Chocolate Jell-O Pudding

How We Came Up With These Items

When my husband and I set out to purchase items for my step-daughter’s tonsil surgery care package, we knew we were looking for things to fit into three main categories:

1. Stuff to do while she’s stuck on the couch or bed
2. Easy-to-eat food
3. Something to make her smile

To gather these items, we decided to check out our local 99 Cent Store to see what they had. We ended up getting really lucky and we were able to pick up all of the items seen in the photo above at that single store. The only thing from our list that didn’t come from the 99 Cent Store was our “Get Well Soon” card that we had previously purchased. (Note: Not all items were $0.99.)

If you’re looking to build your own care package, stores like Target or Walmart would work just as well!

We started out our care package by going first down the “stuff-to-do” aisle, where we grabbed a clipboard, word-finds, a Barbie fashion art kit, and colored pencils. These items were all easy for her to do while she felt under-the-weather, and we thought the clipboard would be useful as a “desk” since she would likely be on a couch or bed most of the time.

Next, we headed over to the food aisles and grabbed cherry Jell-O, chocolate Jell-O pudding, two boxes of different freezable pops and three packets of easy-to-eat soup.

Having checked off the easy-t0-eat food category and the stuff-to-do category, we opted to throw in some Ring Pops as a just because. Who doesn’t love Ring Pops?!

Some General Ideas For Tonsil Surgery Care Packages

My husband and I felt really good about what we chose to put into our care package, but there are a ton of other items that we could have included. In case you’re looking for some ideas, I thought I’d include a few general ideas below.

Things To Do:

• Coloring books
• Books to read
• Crossword puzzles
• Word-finds
• New DVD/Blu-Ray (or a gift card to iTunes, etc.)
• Stickers
• Games to play while stuck indoors
• Other activity books
• Magazines (I have linked to some great options, however, you’ll probably need to pick up a magazine in a brick and mortar store if you’d like to include it as a gift since a subscription often takes weeks to kick in!)

Easy-To-Eat Food:

• Pudding
• Freezer pops like we bought (these can be purchased unfrozen so they are easier to transport)
• Jell-O
• Soups
• Applesauce
• Yogurt
• Oatmeal
• Mashed potatoes
• Gatorade
• Ice cream

Things To Make Them Smile:

• “Get Well Soon” card
• Stuffed animal
• Small knick knack
• Chapsticks in fun flavors
• Fun ice packs
• Blanket
• Fun robe
• Pajamas
• Cozy socks

Why We Didn’t Include Medications or Cough Drops

We opted not to include things like ibuprofen, cough drops or anything else “medical” in our care package for a couple of reasons. First off, my step-daughter’s mother is a nurse and was well-equipped to handle her after-care needs. Secondly, we knew that the doctor would have specific instructions on how to care for her once she was done with surgery.

If you know that the child is going to need specific medications or “medical” items for their aftercare, I’d say it is perfectly okay to include them! However, I’d say not to feel pressured to include those items if you have no idea what they will need.

Shipping Your Tonsil Surgery Care Package

If you are shipping your care package, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Make sure all of your items are shippable. This may seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes things that seem like they could handle being shipped may not do well in hot climates, and things that are easily breakable are risky, too.
2. Keep in mind that your items will get heavy. Quickly. When we went to package up all of our step-daughter’s items, we were surprised by the weight of the box. We opted to go with a medium flat rate box from the USPS to send our care package.
3. Have a box size in mind as you pick out your items. As I noted above, we knew that we were going to be filling up a medium flat rate box, so as we were picking out items, we were mentally making sure that everything would fit.

Have you ever had your tonsils taken out? What were your favorite things to get you through the healing process?

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