All of us who have travelled with children know that it can be so fun and yet so very tiring.
We live more than 3000 miles from my parents and extended family, so I have spent summers traveling with my children alone for 6 weeks to make a trek across the country to visit family & friends.
Below is what I came to rely on as THE BEST THING ever for my kids!
Let me share with you my system for travelling with kids for day trips and on plane rides.
It all began when, while traveling with the children, I noticed that I often became a human coat tree or pack mule as they were constantly asking, “Mom can you carry my……” or “Do you know where my ……. is?”.
I was left constantly digging through my bag looking for items and my shoulder was aching from carrying too much.
And sometimes I was just getting downright cranky about it!
Then one day while shopping in an outdoor store looking for a birthday present, I saw these day packs and I knew I had found the answer to my problem.
I promptly bought 1 for each of my children. (I let them choose the colour).
This small size day pack is perfect….small in size, lightweight and a wide shoulder strap for comfort.
It also came with a built in pocket for a water bottle and a zippered pocket for sunglasses in the front.
Brilliant!
At the time my children were 6 and 10 years old and I knew they were ready for some independence and were perfectly capable of looking after their items when we were on day trips to museums, parks and zoos.
I explained to each of them that they were now responsible for their own items…..sun hats, sun glasses, snacks, etc. and they could keep carry these items in their day pack.
{Awww. My kids look so little a few years back.We were on a day trip to the Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg, Nova Scota in 2007.}
Then we made a trip to a store and loaded up on items that they would need for their day pack…
Other items that may be included in a child’s day pack, depending on their age, include:
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
Asthma Inhaler
Allergy Medicine
Epi-Pen
When we pack the day pack for a plane ride, we also include headsets, a bigger snack and a book or magazine.
This system worked great for us!
For the rest of that summer, and summers that followed, my kids carried their own items in their day packs and it worked perfectly!
And Mom’s shoulder was very happy too!
{I also went ahead and bought day packs for my niece and nephew for the birthdays and stuffed theirs with fun things inside too.}
Do any of you Moms have a similar system?
What do you find works for you?
{Thank you so much to Steph at Somewhat Simple for featuring this post here.}
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I had a similar system when my children were young. It works so well!
Great idea, my older babies are 6 and 7 now and this would be a brilliant way to encourage independence while travelling. x
Wish I had thought of something like this when my kids were younger! Brilliant!!!
i had four, so keeping up with four packs wasn't going to happen. So I got a big tote and filled it with essentials and left it in the car. I added a small change purse with museum or soda money and we were always good to go! We also took one big cooler all of us could drink from. No one minded a bit (:
Great idea to use those mec daypacks! We have a similar system for organizing the kid's electronics – we use small LUG bags for the DS, ipod, games, accessories, chargers, etc. Everything stays together and they always have what they need!
Awesome! We're taking all 3 kids to NYC in July – and they're all going to carry their own stuff! Thanks for the tips!
I am list crazed. I write things down for weeks before we go on a trip. I like the idea of getting the kids to be responsible for some of the stuff! Good packing ideas! Thanks! We drive to Nova Scotia from Ontario every couple of years. I have to say the drive really isn't that much fun. Books on tape are about the only thing that have helped keep the kids from CONSTANTLY fighting!
Good job Mom, your kids learned a few lessons from those day packs. Smart gal. Uh gee people didn't you know I'm not a pack mule.
I used to take the neighborhood of kids/mine too to the beach for the day, we had to have rules as you can imagine. Guess they were so darned happy to go to the beach so many times the kids/Mom made sure they had lunch, momey, anything they needed with them every time. I had made up a list for the kids to give their Moms, I made it very clear they were responsible for their own things and what time they were to be ready to leave for the beach and go home. We lived inland so the drive was a longer one. Sometimes we'd even stay to make supper and go home after the traffic. We lived outside San Diego. The traffic is horrendous going inland.
Very good idea! I'm currently working on an activity pack for the car as my kids are younger (4 and 2), but they'll definitely be getting these sort of back backs in the not-too-distant future!
Great idea. Love the backpacks… Newest follower form COM hop. Love for you to stop by Naptime Review. Also hosting Mom's Monday MIngle. Love to have you!
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Brilliant idea! It's always great to be prepared. Thank you for sharing this at our Summer BBQ Bash!
I went to great lenghts to get these bag's (from canada to my friend in NYC to me in Ireland)as i thought they are just fantastic for my little people (7yo & 5yo & 2yo) They had their first outing last week to the zoo & the kids loved them, we have since went for a cycle & they carried them again. I love your blog thanks for sharing. E