Women at work and their tips, challenges, advice, complaints, and experiences

My daughter heads out for her Christmas vacation visitation this afternoon and I came up with a few things to make life easier (and hopefully insure that her belongings make it back with her for once!) that may also be of use to holiday travellers of all ages.  Here's what I came up with that may be of use to you busy Workerettes, whether you're travelling alone or with kiddos this holiday season:

• As you fold items to be packed, take a snapshot with your digital camera or phone cam.  Email them, along with an inventory list, to yourself or whomever is picking up your child.  They'll make it easier for another packer to figure out what goes back to you - and if you're the traveller, it'll make it easier to inform the airline of what you're missing if your baggage is open or lost when you arrive at your destination airport.
• If your child is travelling unaccompanied, take a picture of them in whatever they are wearing to the airport.  Save it and also email it to the person responsible for picking up your child.  This will be handy for them while they are scanning the line of folks coming out of the plane (this time of year even kiddos travelling alone are doing it in larger numbers), plus it's a safety measure in case of a lost or abducted child.  Being able to email authorities a very current photo could be a lifesaver.
• Pack a change of clothes and toiletries in carry-ons.  (Remember to use travel size toothpastes, etc. that will make it through security.)  That way if your main bag is lost with your full-sized toiletries, you've got something to wear and a way to get cleaned up without having to make a trip to the drugstore on Christmas Eve.  This is also handy with kiddos in case of spills, etc.
• Print two copies of the itinerary/ticket email from your airline.  Take one with you to check in, keep the second copy in a safe place for when you pick the child back up.  That way if one is lost, you're not in a tizzy trying to print another out before you head to the airport.
• Limit the number of toys you put in a child's activity bag, unless they are just "busy" things that don't really mean that much.  The last thing you need is a child who is in tears because they left their favorite bear on the plane - and after you ask the staff to search for it, you find out it was the plane THERE, not the plane back!
• Ask your child if s/he wants step-parents or other siblings to go with you for drop-offs and pick-ups.  You should be able to get a gate pass for yourself and a spouse, as well as any minor children - but your child might want the departure to be a private time with just you.  On the flip side, she may desperately want the whole family there so that things are constant and she doesn't feel like she's being cast out of what will go on without her there.  (Can you tell what my Chatty's answer was?)

This is my first time doing the unaccompanied thing for my daughter - so wish us luck!  Leave me comments with any tips you might have for next time.  I'll take all the luck and advice I can get.  ;-)

For more great Christmas (and year-round) tips, go check out Rocks in my Dryer.