One day a fellow mother gave her toddler a toy to play with and I said, “Look at you all prepared,” with a smile, knowing it would boost her already inflated ego. “No,” she said, “I’m a mom,” and she rolled her eyes at me. I thought the toy was a stupid wasteful dollar store garbage toy anyway. Where am I going with this?
I don’t want this to happen to you so here are some brag worthy packing suggestions for a day out.
If you drive it’s easy to keep stuff ready and available in the car (I assume), and if you don’t have a vehicle, there are light, simple things you can pack too. These suggestions are for the post-diaper bag (yea!) years.
Snacks: Here’s a list of healthy snacks from Healthy Kids Association. Prepackaged snacks and juice boxes may seem easy, but if you want to avoid excess packaging, bring a water bottle and snack bag full of yum.
Bags from Funky Monkey’s etc.
Images from Funky Monkey’s etc. Facebook page.
Shop there and My City Artisans for these and more.
Stationary: This can seem messy but here’s an answer to that problem. A crayon and notebook pouch!
Pouch by Funky Monkey’s etc.
Image from My City Artisans.
Books: You can get smaller versions of your favourites. Sandra Boynton, Stella and Sam, and Dr. Seuss for example. Beatrix Potter and the Mr. Men and Little Miss series are already pretty small. I found some tiny Robert Munsch books at a Chapters that I used for goodie bags and now keep a couple handy in my purse.
Toys: I try not to let her pack her favourites out of fear they’ll get lost.
Big baggie for dirty clothes. We got one with Patience’s name on it at her school orientation. They asked me to send with her each day. Pretty good idea I must admit. It’s as if they’ve dealt with children before.
Extra change of clothes. Even just an extra shirt for the nose picking nose bleeding, messy eating, what the eff is on your shirt how did you manage that? Crowd. Or underwear for the, ‘Oh you still do that” moments.
Then there is the usual sunscreen and sunglasses – even in yucky weather these are musts says P’s eye doctor, especially for baby blues.
These things are all small enough to fit in your bag, assuming you carry one. If they feel like being responsible for their own bag, why not? Just don’t let them sucker you into carrying both because that kills the easy packing vibe,
Have any packing suggestions?
Let us know!
Tagged: Beatrix Potter, chapters, children's books, crayon pouch, diaper bag, Dr. Seuss, Funky Monkeys Etc., Healthy Kids Association, healthy snacks, kid bag, Little Miss, Mr. men, My City Artisans, Other moms, Other parents, packing, Robert Munsch, Sandra Boynton, small books, small toys, snack bags, snack packs, snacks, Stella and Sam, toddler bag
