Backpack! Backpack!

Okay now honestly, how many of you heard the Dora song in your head when you read those words? =-)

I have just about everything I need for Kendi's travel items--the things that will be taken to Ghana for the trip home. Actually, I can't think of anything else I NEED. I just need to pack it all!

Late this spring we saw these cute eco-friendly backpacks on clearance at Target. They were just so different from the plastic cartoon character backpacks usually available for toddlers. We scooped one up for Bright in blue and one for Kendi in pink. Perfect! I think we paid $10 a peice for them.

Then when it was time for me to escort two cuties home from Ghana, I couldn't resist packing their stuff in them. I knew that it would be helpful for them to have their own bags to wear in the airports and to have on the plane. I planned to just have the kids use them and then bring them back home for my kiddos.

But you should have seen how these kids loved "their" backpacks! There was no way I was taking them away! LOL! So off they went with their new family, backpacks in tow. It was nice to give them a little gift, and they couldn't have looked cuter on the kids.

Problem is, I could never find them again at Target! Our "perfect" bags were gone! I went searching on google last week and finally found the backpacks we bought at Target. But silly me couldn't just do the easy thing and buy the pack I KNEW would be great for Kendi. Instead I had to go to Amazon and search for Ladybug backpacks. And I found THIS one. So cute, right?! And it was said to be the same size as the OTHER backpack. I was so giddy. I purchased the one on Amazon.

A few days later it arrived, as cute as it looked on line. But oops. I forgot to think about a few things. Like straps. These straps are cutesy straps with no padding, and they button like over alls at the bottom (instead of having the straps that you can pull down and tie around the child's front). That's not going to work. What made the other packs so great was that I could tie them around the kids' waists so they didn't come off. I can just imagine what a pain this cute ladybug bag is going to be for Kendi's escort! Also, it ended up being smaller than the other pack--even though the dimesions were reported as being the same. No way is Kendis' stuff fitting in this backpack!

So, back I go to the original backpack. I should have bought it from the beginning. It's perfectly padded straps....it's "just right" excess staps that can be tied around a waste....the super handy pockets on the sides. I bought it yesterday. Eric laughed so hard at me, buying 3 backpacks (two identical) for one little girl in Ghana. On well. She's worth it. =-) So if you're bringing home a 2-5 year old child soon, and need a super durable and cute backpack, go with the Ecogear Panda Backpac, available in 4 cool colors!

Anita

P.S. Did you ever imagine anybody could write such a long blog post about backpacks? This is what happens when you are awaiting news of a visa. Crazy things obsess your mind.