Suitcase Presents

When my oldest granddaughter was two I flew to Chicago to stay with her because my daughter had a work trip to London. I packed some little presents in my suitcase to be opened each morning. Over the years those suitcase presents became a tradition and during my visits to Chicago I’d be awakened by an exuberant “Wake up time Mimi” followed by a whispered “Is there anything in your suitcase for me?”.

Now that we live in Chicago there are not as many occasions for suitcase presents but since we do take vacations together I have continued the tradition. I usually try to find things that will provide an activity since there is always some lag time on vacation and it’s good to have a few things to do. Last year my younger granddaughter was introduced to the tradition and caught on quickly but this year there was no “Wake up time Mimi” and I actually had to remind them about the suitcase presents each day. This worked out pretty well though because I could remind them during one of those lag times.

For the first day I had found a little kit for making layered sand bottles. Older layered hers very carefully and had us put it high up on a shelf to keep it safe.

The next day Older got a puzzle and Younger some fish stickers. I had packed these with some short scrap pieces of paper and a few markers. I introduced the idea of drawing some water and she got the idea to tape the pieces together to make one long picture. It’s so long I didn’t even get all of it in the picture.

On the third day I gave them the Great Lakes mermaid book I had bought in Holland, Michigan during Tulip Time. Since the plot of this book involves special Great Lakes rocks it added another layer to the extensive beach rock collecting.

The next day was not a beach day so it was the perfect day for painting window ornaments.

And for the last day presents to bring back home, Younger got fish bath toys and Older a jump rope.

It was a little disappointing that they had to be reminded each day which made me wonder if it was time for the tradition to be retired. But when my husband was asking us our favorite parts of the vacation I realized that one of mine was doing the suitcase activities. So I think I’ll do it again next year and see how it goes.