What Brenda Song’s Kids Can’t Live Without

I could be traveling anywhere around the world and I’ll always have UGGs. It just depends on if it’s my UGG slippers, or my mini UGGs.

I have a 3- and a 4-year-old. They’re 15 months apart. As you can see with all of my things, it’s like, how do I keep my kids busy on a plane? I love these headphones because they’re noise canceling. When we’re taking off or landing, we’ll put them in noise-canceling mode so they don’t hear the crazy engine, which helps their anxieties so much. I also love that they’re Bluetooth so they can connect to their iPads, but they also have a connector that can plug into the in-flight entertainment to keep my kids entertained. That’s my goal: Keep my boys happy on a flight. Happy boys. Happy mama.

I’m the mom who is online all day trying to find all of the things and reading reviews. I love an Amazon review. Again, with my kids, Dak and Carson, I love keeping them busy on a flight. One of my favorite things is this mess-free coloring binder situation. Everything fits in here, and all these markers can color everywhere but it won’t show up anywhere except for on this magic paper. My kids love to draw; we like to play tic-tac-toe, word games, things like that. I can let them go crazy coloring and don’t have to worry about making a mess. I probably use this more than my kids, to be honest. It’s super-fun.

I don’t do a full skin-care routine on a plane and I don’t wear makeup, but SOS just refreshes me because I feel like when you’re on a plane, all the moisture gets zapped. It’s also anti-microbial, so I feel like I’m spraying sanitizer on my face. I use a lot of it. You will see me spraying my face all day. I also use it on set to refresh my makeup. I love that it’s an Asian-owned brand. It’s amazing.

This is in my bag now. I use it for the kids’ lips. I use it for my cuticles. One of my sons has a bit of eczema and so I use it on that. It is in my bag at all times. I use it for everything. I actually found out about it when I was pregnant, because I used it on my nipples for breastfeeding. And now I can’t live without it.

My husband was gifted these Wayfarers as a birthday present and he started messing around with them. Our kids get very camera shy, funny enough. You pull out a camera and they stop doing whatever they’re doing. And so he started using them to take videos and pictures. When we went to Disneyland last, I bought a pair and I got the most amazing photos, because they were candid. The kids had no idea. I mean, it does flash, but they don’t really comprehend. It’s such a great way to capture these candid moments with your family. I feel like with kids, you wanna capture it in the moment, and by the time you pull out your phone, the moment is gone. It has actually been amazing. I’ve been using them so much this year. We took a trip earlier in the summer, and most of our photos are from our Ray-Ban sunglasses. They go straight to your phone, too. I wish I could zoom and things like that, but for the most part, it’s been an incredible way to capture these moments without our kids freezing up. It’s so easy. We have the best on-the-roller-coaster videos of the boys. The pictures can be a little fish-eyed, but they’re actually really, really good photos.

This has been game-changing for us because when you’re traveling with your kids, there’s so much going on at the airport. I was Googling like crazy and found these suitcases that have a little part that you can flip up and make it into a seat and strap your kids in. And so about a week before we traveled, I pulled them out and let my kids ride around the house. They love them so much that when we’re in the airport, they jump on and they won’t get off them. It’s like a roller coaster for them. My oldest is starting to get a little too big and I’m panicking because he loves it and it just makes it so much easier. Once our kids outgrew the Doona, I was devastated. We actually took the train from L.A. to San Diego and we traveled with that and the boys loved it. There have been times where I’ve used it for travel myself because you’re gonna be waiting around and you’ll need that seat. It holds up to 220 pounds.

I pulled this out recently and didn’t even realize that this was Béis. I worked with Shay Mitchell, the founder. We did a show together six years ago and she sent me this and I’ve used it all throughout with my babies. Now we use it for traveling, and it just holds everything. The organization is incredible. It’s literally our carry-all bag. Especially with the kids, I need to be hands-free. It’s usually on Mac’s [Macaulay Culkin, Song’s husband] back because he carries everything, but it’s just a cool bag. That’s the thing I love about it. It’s so chic. It’s listed as a diaper bag, but it really is just a huge backpack with all the compartments for all the mom things.

I have this bottle in blue and pink, because my oldest loves pink and my youngest loves blue. We carry them fully empty, and when we’re at an airport, I usually let them pick a juice or whatever drink they want and pour it into the bottles. When we’re on the plane, I don’t have to worry about them spilling on themselves or anything like that. It sits in the bag and they get to pick their juices, or we get on the flight and I ask for whatever drink they want and I fill the bottles up, and then they’re happy as can be. I don’t have to worry about it. You’re gonna realize that my whole life is about convenience for me.

This snack spinner goes with us everywhere, and I bring a huge bag of snacks to fill it. It has a little hand strap, and I usually just hand it to the kids after I fill it. They find it so much fun because you have to press on it to spin to each compartment. You open the compartment, you press down, and it spins to the different snacks. It’s a great way to contain the snack eating when traveling. This was just me on the internet going crazy. I hada small onefor when they were younger, and now they have the bigger one, andthere’s also a lunch box onethat the boys use for school, but this is the one I travel with, not just for flights but also when we get in the car. When my kids are fed, they’re happy.

I just absolutely love to travel, and I’m so excited to be joining Citi and American Airlines to celebrate the launch of the Citi/AAdvantage Globe Card. I love it because the premium benefits help elevate my travel. My personal favorite is the four annual passes to the Admirals Club, which helps you relax before flights. And I really love being able to use these benefits with everyday purchases and being rewarded with my advantage miles and loyalty points. Not much more I can ask for.