How I Pack: Packing the Kids' Clothes

Let's face it, packing for the children usually falls to Mom. I mean, they're helpless, right? Well, yes and no. Certainly, I would never entrust the job of packing their own clothing for a vacation to my daughters, ages 4 and 7. But I do let my oldest have input (telling me her favorite outfits, which she'd prefer to wear at which parks, etc.). And although I know I'll be the one doing most of the work, I pack in such a way as to save myself work when we arrive at Walt Disney World. How? By using the Ziplock bag system. Intrigued? Read on.

This bag has an outfit for Reagan to wear into the park, plus an extra shirt.

First, I figure out how many days of clothing each child needs (adding one or two extra, depending on how messy and/or how well potty trained the child is). Then I organize complete outfits: shirt, shorts, underwear, socks, and even hair accessories. Next I put each complete outfit into a gallon-sized Ziplock bag. Finally, I label them with the child's name and classification of the outfit (travel, park, extra, etc.). I have gone so far as to label them with the actual days that the child will wear them, especially if it's a special outfit that I want them to wear, say, when we have a character meal.



Each child has her own duffel bag with all her smaller bags inside. When we arrive at our resort, I simply assign each girl a drawer. They unload their own duffel bags. Then, each morning, they can pick out an appropriate bag (OK, so the 4-yr-old can't read yet...but her big sister can help!) and get themselves dressed. Easy-peasey-mac-n-cheesey!

Next up: The Disney Tub. (Arent' you excited?) See ya, tomorrow!