Monday, September 23, 2013

Big Family Road Trips

This past summer provided some opportunities for travel for my family.  Not only did we take several day trips, but we had some overnight adventures as well.  I don't know if all moms of large families are like me, but I feel if I don't plan ahead, something will go drastically, tragically wrong awry. 

One thing I've started doing is packing outfits in individual bags.  I purchased mesh lingerie bags from the D0llar Store - $1 for 3 bags.  I have enough bags to put each outfit for each child in a bag.  I also put each child's pajamas in a bag as well.  When I say outfit, I mean the shirt, pants (or shorts or skirt), underwear, and socks (if needed) in one bag.  One day = one bag with one outfit.  It's just so much easier than having each child pack their own suitcase (with 5 children, we are a bit limited on space) and I can contain all of the clothes and find each child's clothing quickly if we have one large suitcase.

 Another thing I do is pack snack boxes.  I bought subdivided plastic, leak proof, microwavable plastic "lunch" containers for each of the children, me, and my husband.  I can pack sandwiches, fruit, cookies, cheese sticks, pretzels, crackers, hummus, etc.  The containers I have only have two separate compartments, but I can subdivide them further using paper cupcake cups.

Finally, I always, always make a packing/TO DO list.  So far, my lists are handwritten, but as soon as I decide to type one up, I'll post it!

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