My grandparents had a huge, antique world globe in their home, the kind your fifth-grade teacher used to show you where the countries were, just with more wear and tear. As a child I would close my eyes, spin the globe and daydream about visiting the location my finger settled on when the globe stopped moving. I have always loved traveling. What might be surprising is I also enjoy the prep work of researching contenders, planning the activities, booking the transportation, flights, and hotels, and even packing. I know that last one makes me sound like a freak but it’s true. I really enjoy the process of planning out my outfits by forecasted weather and activity combined with the challenge of getting them all to fit into one airline-approved suitcase that doesn’t tip the scale and cost a fortune. If you don’t already have a portable digital luggage scale, it is the first travel item you should purchase before your next trip. Trust me on this one. It’s been a life saver!
My joy of packing was lost once I became a mom. Packing for myself is easy, rewarding, and enjoyable. Packing for kids? Not so much. I quickly found it to be difficult, overwhelming, and downright frustrating. The younger the child, the more stuff you need to bring and the more thought you must put into what to bring which adds even more stress and anxiety. After all, if you fail to pack little Johnny’s favorite teddy bear, you might as well strap your seatbelt on tight because his meltdown of the century is sure to follow. Five days without Honey Boo Bear equals five days of toddler hell. A few years back I decided the only way to continue going on trips with my family without losing my mind was to teach my boys how to pack their own luggage. I spent some time devising a packing system that includes this Kids Packing Manual and Checklist and have been using it ever since. Thanks to my commitment to making my boys pack their own suitcases using our checklist, they’ve become more responsible packers and I’ve greatly reduced my pre-trip stress. Win-win.
A few weeks before we go on a trip, I print the checklist for each of my boys (now aged 11 and 16) and attach it to a clipboard. They answer the questions, read over the tips, input the numbers in the # column according to the weather forecast and the activities we will be doing (yay elementary math!), then raid their closets and drawers for the items they need. They lay out the clothes, toiletries, comfort items, and miscellaneous things on their bed, then check off the items in the Packed columns – all while I do whatever the hell I feel like doing, which never includes packing my kids’ suitcases.
Once their job is complete and every box on the checklist marked off, I look over the items they picked out and try not to care if shirts match shorts. After I approve their work, the boys place their items in their oh-so-handy eBags, lay them in their suitcases, and zip those babies up. Never heard of eBags? They make organizing your travel items a cinch and keep your clothes from getting wrinkled. Seriously – check them out.
Our checklist packing system is a living document. It will always be a work in progress because the need for different items constantly changes as the boys grow (hello, deodorant!) and the world changes (I just added masks and hand sanitizer in 2020). Feel free to download the Kids Packing Manual and Checklist we use and modify it to meet your own children’s unique needs. Then, don’t forget to bask in the glory of watching Little Johnny pack his own damn teddy bear.
