When you hear the words “protective packaging” what do you think of? Does your brain shift to thinking about that incredibly difficult and overly annoying plastic package containing one small item that you need in a hurry? Or perhaps do you begin to think of the last time you received a box at your house and excitedly cut open the top of the box to only have a “Jack in the Box” experience with foam peanuts that were stuffed in there just right in order to protect the precious item inside. Or maybe you think of wrapping up special framed photos and wall hangings in miles of bubble wrap prior to a big move. Either way you look at it there are many reasons in our lives to protect our “things”. And there are products out there to do just that.

But what about protecting the ones we love? Sure- why not? Just recently my daughter (who yes plays football with all boys) had a teammate who broke his wrist during a practice session. This young boy lives, breathes, and eats football. He knows the game and is very good at playing it. So while his parents took him to the doctor to have his arm properly treated and put into a cast, this fella cried and moped, not because his arm hurt but because he could not play the sport for which he loved so much. Like a good teammate he attended the games, dressed as a player, supporting his buddies with his presence. The boy was begging his coach “Just let me kick, I won’t get hurt or hurt anyone else!” During one game the referee mentioned that he could actually play as long as his cast was wrapped with sufficient cushioning and secured tightly around the entire cast. The young boy was ecstatic and begged his father to figure out a way to make this happen. Creatively, the parents and I decided that bubble wrap would work best for covering the cast and making his arm still functional (not too bulky). So the next game, I brought blue bubble wrap and some tape and we wrapped this eager player’s casted arm until all you could see was what looked like was blue sleeve. “PERFECT!” exclaimed the all-star boy. He ran to the referee for his approval and after some serious examination the referee gave him the thumbs up to play. I have never seen a young lad so excited to have his arm wrapped in a plastic air cushioned sleeve in all my life. A simple product intended to protect “THINGS” was actually used to protect a “BEING”. We can’t say that blue bubble wrap aided in the healing of a broken arm, but it sure aided in healing the hurt feelings of a talented young boy. Never mind that it taught several of us parents to think outside the box a little and rev up our creative juices to solve a simple problem.

You know as parents we have all joked about wrapping up our children in Bubble wrap to keep them from harm. Hmm, I venture to say that as stylish as this color bubble wrap is, it might not be too farfetched to see young teenage drivers cruising around in a bubble wrapped outfit. The uses of this stuff really are endless.