Do you organize your clothes like this?
I layout each outfit in a pile with socks and underwear for each day.
Each child gets a row. All the columns line up for one day we are gone. I also add another column for a sweatshirt or a swim suit, anything else that everyone will need.
My local dollar store has these mesh garment bags, 3/$1. These bags have zippers as the closure.
You may need to check the store a few times because they might be out. This happens at my store quite frequently. Plan ahead. Don’t wait until the day before your trip.
Place each outfit in one of the mesh bags and zip it up! Repeat with all your piles of outfits and extras. Now it looks like this.
To me, this pile seems more manageable because everything is together for each day.
Here comes the crafty part. I have colors for each of my kids so they immediately know which bag belongs to them.
Grab some ribbon, one color for each person and double knot it onto the zipper pull. These bags do come from the dollar store which means they will not last forever. But, if I need to replace a bag they are cheap and the craft part is quick and easy to repeat in a hurry.
Now that all the clothes are in separate bags for each day and labeled with their color it is time to pack. I don’t like having a lot of bags so I get one big bag and throw all the mesh bags in there.
Each day the kids look in the one BIG bag for their colored mesh bag and put those clothes on.
When I am potty training I throw in an extra pair of pants and underwear or two per day for that child. At that age the clothes are small so it is easy to fit the extras in the same bag.
If I know my child will need a change of shirt part way through the day I will throw in an extra. This way I still only need one bag per day per child.
I like to throw in a diaper for each morning so I don’t need to hunt that down as well.
I have recently learned that more is not better. Packing light is empowering and makes travel so much easier. Read about my packing light tips to see why and how. I use these tips not just with extended travel but EVERY DAY!
