I have a love/hate relationship with packing. Anyone else feel me?
I love packing, because that means we are going on a fun trip, by either seeing family or someplace new.
I hate packing, because I pretty much pack everyone except my husband (he waits till 10 minutes before we leave…lol). Everyone is myself, son, daughter, and two dogs.
When I pack I usually have a good plan, but that always seems to get thrown off by a child screaming, peeing pants, or just wants to be held.
Here is how I deal with packing!
-For my daughter(13 months old): Thank goodness for baby wearing. If I want able to wear my daughter, nothing would get accomplished! Once she is up and on me, there isn’t anything I couldn’t do!
-For my son(almost 3): The helpful tool is either the iPad or a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I try my hardest not to rely on the TV as a babysitter, but sometimes it’s necessary for me to get stuff accomplished. The iPad- I love the apps that I have on the iPad for him. Most of them reinforce the skills we have covered in school. This is always helpful. I am mindful of how much time he is on it and I always place it on airplane mode. This way there isn’t wifi radiation waves interacting with him (some of you may think I’m crazy, but it makes me feel better).
Even though these things help me out, sometimes it still doesn’t work. When that happens I get slightly stressed, because I want to get it done, but then realize I just need to take a step back and play with my babies.
The packing then resumes when they are asleep. Which is definitely easier, but also means I stay up later than I should.
When I do pack, I always pack my kids first. This way if they go for a nap or I wind up packing while they sleep. I do not have to go into their room and risk disturbing them. I learned my lesson on that the very first time we were getting ready to visit our parents with both babies.
Before having two kids. We used to have to take all the big baby items with us as well, like the pack n play and swing. Finally after three trips like that. We asked both of our parents if they could get a pack n play. Thankfully they did! It has saved us! We also when to a kid thrift store (highly recommend! Best place for gently used clothes and toys… Kids grow so fast to have all new stuff) and bought an extra swing that we were able to leave with them. Now when we pack, its really just clothes, food, diapers, utensils, cups and a few toys. Has left us with a little more packing space.
When the car is fully loaded now, we can actually see out the rear window! Haha! 😋
When it comes to packing clothes, I also try to pack outfits (see image).
layout outfit, then roll to pack.
By packing the outfits, it’s easier to bring what you need and not over pack. It really helps take the guess work out of what to put on each child ( super helpful for my husband to match our daughter’s clothing peices together).
Those are some of my helpful packing tips! Hopefully some of you may see something on here you haven’t done before and it helps!
Till next time! 😄
*I am in now way affiliated with Apple, iPad, Disney, or Mickey Mouse. Just sharing my experiences and telling you what works for my family!
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