Mama Files

The Bag Fillers

July 22, 2015

My girls have a love of bags. Not just bags, but full bags. Bags that are bursting at the seams with ‘stuff’. Trinkets, plastic food, blankets, books, phones, crayons, dolls clothes – all essential items for their upcoming ‘vacation to the lounge room’.

I absolutely love their role playing – they have these beautifully creative imaginations and can honestly play for hours together, but I don’t get the ‘bag filling’.

It’s like they made a pact that each day they will select 23 items from every room of the house and shove it in a bag or two. On the days they are planning a little ‘overnighter’, they’ll pack these bags along with 17 dolls and an outfit or two for each. It’s all fun and games until Lexie Peanut (the doll) gets sick. They’ll then switch to a new game – hospitals. I love their readiness to adapt, but they no longer need their entourage of bags for this, just six medical kits.

So off I go on a little bag hunt, unpacking these plentiful bags to each of their rightful homes. Some days I’ve spent 45 minutes unpacking; where did they find this old alarm clock? Why did they need the cheese grater?

Don’t get me wrong, they are actually fairly tight little packers. A skill I’m sure they’ll put to good use when they hit their ‘backpacking’ years.

I came to realise my ‘bag fillers’ were here to stay. My Type A personality kicked in and I found an ‘organised’ compromise. They now have dedicated boxes in the playroom with handbag labels (literally a picture of a Kate Spade Tote). These boxes are full of weird & wonderful knick knacks. They can mix, match and shove their bags with anything from these boxes until their hearts content.

At the end of the day all 21 bags that were filled, stuffed and carted around the house, now just get tipped back into these black boxes of ‘stuff’. Ready to do it all again tomorrow. So simple.

I’m happy to report, its seems to be working. My bag fillers are enjoying the ‘easy to locate’ stuff & I’m spending less time unpacking from the holidays I never actually went on.

It really is a win win!