Easy packing for camp (or any long trip)

My 9 year old son just left for camp, for the first time, EVER!  So that makes this my first time to pack someone for camp, EVER!! 

My plan was just to pack everything on the "What to Pack" list from the camp,  fold it in the duffel bag, and be done.  Then my friend Jenni stopped by as I was packing and gave me what turned out to be the best advise EVER!

Take a full day's outfit (shirt, shorts, socks, underwear), fold them up and put them in a Ziploc bag.  If you want to, you could even label the days: Monday, Tuesday, etc. or even just Day 1, Day 2, etc. 

There are MANY reasons that this idea is great:

• My son could not match his clothes into an outfit if his life depended on it.
• He tends to pull everything out of a bag to look for something.  Then nothing goes back (or if he's forced to put it back, it's just shoved in there, dirty and clean all together.)
• Each morning, Sam can reach in his duffel, pick out a Ziploc bag, and be done.  No choosing, sorting, searching necessary.**
• Because each bag is packed tight and you can take the air out of them, there is tons of room in his bag for other things.
• At the end of the week, when his bag is being repacked, maybe, JUST MAYBE, he'll think to put something wet or nasty in a Ziploc.  Ok, so not likely.  But it COULD happen.
• This is great for any trip, whether you're with them or not.  The next time we head to Disney World, I'm doing this for both of my kids. 

So, that's IT.  I feel like a super hero this week, like I've saved one small portion of my world.  It's kind of awesome.  Am I the last mom to hear about this idea?   Maybe I'm not so super?  Or maybe I am!

**Blogger's update:  As of yesterday, day 4 of camp and based on online photos posted by his counselors, Sam appears to be wearing the exact same clothes for every activity all week:  his bathing suit bottoms and the same t-shirt.  It's nice to see all of my efforts making such a difference for him.