Packing for a Play Day With Kids

Spring is finally here and it's time, once again, to plan some trips outdoors. When we were young parents, it was all so different. We didn't think too much about what we should bring when taking the kids to the park or for a walk in the woods, We'd throw random things into a diaper bag and hope for the best.

In the beginning, we'd invariably forget or break one of the diaper pins. (Who else used cloth diapers?) There was baby powder, which no one uses today, a tube of diaper rash cream and glass juice bottles and jars of peas. (EEK!) We always had a cloth baby carrier, which went everywhere with us, including on our backs, as we walked behind the mower cutting the lawn. And sun hats. I don't remember bothering too much with sunscreen, but these days it's an obsession. Lunch was generally PB and J, and we brought a sheet or blanket for babies and crawling kids, which also helped keep the ants away from the jelly. Oops, forgot the napkins!

As the kids grew out of diapers, the bag became lighter and we shrugged off what we didn't bring. We didn't need to remember house keys because we rarely locked the house, or iPads for kid's quiet time. A book, crayons and paper and waterproof boots were useful for the one who wandered into the stream. That was then.

Today, as grandparents, the items we can forget are complicated and a bit scary: A first aid kit with lots of super hero bandaids; a dry cloth to rub down wet swings and slides; hand sanitizer and baby wipes; water and nutritious snacks; our cell phones; sand tools; pull-ups (although Georgie is mercifully over that); kid's sunglasses; a comb; kid-safe tick repellent; little toys and a ball to play with and share in case there's a new "friend". Oh, can I repeat the cell phone again?

Yesterday, Georgie said he was "discombobulated." I wondered where he picked up that term but... then, not really!

We find we need to make and keep a list, preferably IN the backpack. (Cool grandparents may have this on their cell phones) We think it would be handy to share a list of what you bring when you take your kids or grandkids out for the day. I'm sure we've already forgotten stuff that we'll wish we had in the backpack for tomorrow's outing.

What do you bring with you?

At our age, isn't it nice to have somebody to wink at as we work through those senior moments?