Another Packing spin off

[soccerdad72]

No, for the most part, we all pack our own stuff. We'll tell our boys what they need for the trip, but they'll pack on their own.

 

[Moliphino]

My mom packs my dad's clothes because he never thinks he needs as much as he really does. He'd throw in two shirts, two shorts, 2 pairs of undies, and two pairs of socks and think that was good (even when going somewhere without laundry facilities). He does handle his own toiletries and whatever else he wants to bring. We still wound up needing to buy him a jacket and umbrella because he didn't think he'd need them in Paris in early May.
As kids we started packing for ourselves pretty young. Probably as soon as we had opinions on what we wanted to wear.

 

[loves to dive]

I physically put things in the suitcase but DH picks out his own stuff. He will sometimes ask me if I think it's enough or the right stuff but I don't pick it out for him. The only reason I do the physical packing is he would just stuff it all in there willy nilly. My son is a better packer than I am so I've never done his, even when he was a little kid. He packs the car for me when we go places together, if I've already packed it, he will unpack it and do it over.

 

[Katie Dawn]

DH packs his own clothes and toiletries.
I pack my stuff and the community stuff (like sunscreen) with several assists from DH.
My kids are 10, so they're getting pretty close to handling their things themselves. I have a packing list and let them pick out their clothes but still eyeball the items they're choosing to make sure they're weather appropriate and match (especially when we'll be taking pictures). They also pack their own toiletries. Our next trip I'm going to have them thinking through what all needs to be packed, add it to the packing list, and check it off themselves once packed.

Like many of you, I'm the one that plans our trips, does tons of research, thinks to myself "how are we going to entertain a 2 year old on a 5 hours flight?" and figures that out, etc. I know our itinerary, why I have some obscure item on our packing list, what the average weather will be... so DH helps a lot with the packing, but he knows I'm the project manager of our vacation, so he defers to me on what needs to be done.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

How? You're the father.

Astute observation.

I'll enviably forget something. Or pack the wrong thing. Or there was a special thing that she wanted to bring.

 

[tvguy]

Why one person? Because packing is not a good team sport. Especially when you are going on a week long trip and are taking just one suitcase.

Like @ronandanette I've been married about 1,000 years (okay, just over 39 years). There are my tasks and her tasks. She has put gasoline in a car twice in the past 39 years. I've done maybe a couple dozen loads of laundry in that time, although I am allowed to move wash to the dryer, but ONLY with written instructions on what settings on use on the dryer (I just checked, there are 25 different settings on our LG dryer, Lord forgive me if I get one wrong). Due to me working overnights and my wife working until 6 pm, I prepared dinner every night for 17 years, but the minute my wife switched to an earlier shift, she demanded to take the cooking back over. She's cut the lawn maybe a dozen times, that's my task.

 

[NAB]

I don’t only pack for everyone when the kids were small I would take out the clothes we would wear for the next morning . They didn’t care and got too use to it. Not one meltdown that they didn’t want to wear that either. If they did I would let them change. I’m the one that makes sure the wash is put in a bad and back in a suitcase . Plus I clean up the room or cabin if we’re on the ship nothing spread out on dressers.

Now the kids pack there own but they are in their 20’s. So don’t come with us much anymore.

Husband lays out what he wants to take on the bed I pack it.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Astute observation.

I'll enviably forget something. Or pack the wrong thing. Or there was a special thing that she wanted to bring.

Can't tell if you're annoyed with my response but my point is FOR you, not AGAINST you. It's looooooooong overdue that the "helpless man" stereotype be laid to rest.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Can't tell if you're annoyed with my response but my point is FOR you, not AGAINST you. It's looooooooong overdue that the "helpless man" stereotype be laid to rest.

A little annoyed. A little entertained. especially because it was in slight jest. Odd that has to be pointed out.

I'm far from helpless. There are some things I'm not as good at as my wife and vice versa. I wouldn't ask her to take care of the landscaping. Not because she's a helpless woman but because I'm better at it. We're married. We're a team. Thanks for your concern but I got this.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

A little annoyed. A little entertained. especially because it was in slight jest. Odd that has to be pointed out.

I'm far from helpless. There are some things I'm not as good at as my wife and vice versa. I wouldn't ask her to take care of the landscaping. Not because she's a helpless woman but because I'm better at it. We're married. We're a team. Thanks for your concern but I got this.

That's fine. I'll just add that I would never put "parenting" in the same category as landscaping and leave it at that.

 

[design_mom]

I don't pick out what clothes anybody is going to wear on vacation, but I am generally the one who puts everything in the suitcases (checking things off either literally or figuratively as I do), and I'm the one who gets stuck packing the "for everyone" stuff. I don't enjoy that, but I am the vacation planner and it has sort of become my job.

It becomes my problem when someone arrives at our destination without the right gear, so I'd rather solve that problem before we leave home. DH has forgotten underwear on three trips (and yes, he wears it daily) and we had to go buy new underwear. Now I check. And I've heard "you didn't tell me I'd need closed toe shoes for horseback riding" (yes, I did) or "I brought the pants but I guess I forgot my belt."

So now I check to make sure everyone has clothes, shoes, swimsuits, etc that are suitable for the trip... but I don't micromanage the outfits that they choose to bring (it's more like "Appropriate number of shirts and shorts? Check. Appropriate amount of underwear? Check. Closed toe shoes? Check.")

 

[barb969]

When we were first married I packed for DH. I made a list of everything I packed. He unpacked it all to make sure he had everything. That was the only time I have packed for him in 53 years.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

That's fine. I'll just add that I would never put "parenting" in the same category as landscaping and leave it at that.

 

[Micca]

I lay my stuff out but DW packs the luggage. I certainly would pack my own bag, but she has thoughts on the proper way to pack, so she prefers to do it. I pack my carry-on.

Incidentally, I would happily do my own laundry but she insists on doing it.

 

[Meriweather]

I pack for my husband for clothes and his first aid kit. He does his toiletries.
I want him to wear clothes that look decent and kind of match.....and are clean, so I make sure.

 

[fla4fun]

When I was young, Mom would let us bring clothes to her, but she did the final packing to make sure everyone had what they needed. There were two overnight suitcases, with one change of clothes for each of us and overnight toiletries, then everything else was packed into one ginormous bag for the two week stay at the beach. That way, at each stop, only one case had to be brought in. Each morning, the toiletries would move to the next bag. Even when we were teens, we brought the clothes to her and she packed the bags. She didn’t want us to help, although we were welcome to help with the unpacking and laundry when we got home. There was a five year break when we moved to Florida where we didn’t do any family vacations, and by the time we started up again, my sister and I were adults and packed our own stuff.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We each pack our own stuff and I'm completely unaware of what he brings. The only time we'll sorta coordinate is "hey you wanna bring something nice for a nice dinner?"

I'd say generally I'm the "little stuff" person but that goes for other things. Things like making sure we have sunscreen and aloe vera, band-aids and neosporan, etc but he packs his own toiletries he'll be using for shampoo and whatnot (usually he's using the hotel's) and I pack mine. We'll share a suitcase at times and other times don't (though we almost always have our own carry on and/or personal item as well). I use packing cubes he does not. Usually I'm the one who makes sure we have portable chargers though we are each getting our own main chargers.

To touch on some things mentioned in this thread my husband does his own laundry, I know how to mow (in fact my dad often sent me out to mow when I was younger) and did the lawncare (watering, fertilizing and mowing) while my husband was on site the several times he has been although there were times that I was like "hmm this can wait for a day or two can't it "

My husband does make a list most of the time for vacation but it's usually not including things that I'm packing (like the sunscreen, aloe vera, portable chargers, etc).

It works for us. Have we forgotten something? Sure have. It happens. We will verbally remind each other "did you get your?" or "did you get the.." but that's about it.

Honestly I wouldn't want my husband to pack my stuff let alone select it and I'm sure my husband feels the same way about me doing it for him.

 

[LynnTH]

I don't pack for my husband or teens, but I do have a list of things they should bring or consider. I also quiz them ("did you pack your bathing suit"; "did you pack your dress clothes", "did you pack your medicine" etc.). It may be too much, but I would be the one dealing with the issues if they forget something.

This is what I do to. I have a Packing List I use for Disney and one for Cruises. If going somewhere else I modify the list to what we need. Everyone packs their own but I will read down the list to make sure everyone has everything they need. (mainly Glasses. Extra Contacts etc..)

 

[Jeannie]

My wife packs for the kiddos as well as they are still toddlers and I'm gonna screw it up. Once they are older they'll be packing their own.

Yes, lol!!!!! My DH is a wonderful father, and loves our daughters more than life itself, but no way would I have let him pack for them when they were little! First off, he's color blind. He also doesn't always know which separates go together. Then there's the proper amount of socks and underwear, not to mention hair accessories.

It's just the two of us traveling these days, and I still do all the packing, you know... so he doesn't screw it up! I get out all his clothes, pj's, swim trunks, etc. and just tell him how many days he needs socks and underwear for. I can happily say he hasn't screwed that up in 39 years, lol!

 

[mamamary]

We all pack our own clothes but I will pack most of the miscellaneous items. We’re renting a beach house for the week next month so I’ll at least pack the bulk of the non clothing items. If my dh and or kids need certain items (deodorant/toothbrush) they’ll pack that stuff. I have a list on my laptop that I work on every year to help us not forget anything.