The Health, Exercise and Lifestyle Program (HELP) has released a report that shows Australian mothers spend the majority of their summer holidays packing and unpacking the car.
They commonly pack equipment, clothing and essential items for a range of activities such as:
Camping, a day at the beach, park, Christmas lunch, fishing, visiting relatives, picnic with friends, barbeques, birthday parties, surf lessons, drinks, ‘just bring a plate’ events, a sleepover with cousins, swimming pool, cricket, playground, now visit the other relatives, try the back beach, and then repeat randomly.
Most survey respondents also reported packing ‘back-up’ items to allow for ‘change of mind.’ This might include children deciding at the last minute that they would prefer to try boogie boarding instead of going for a bike ride, or that they would prefer to wear a superhero costume instead of their clothes.
Mums also packed for extreme and random weather events, and in recent years for the end of the world.
Over ninety-nine percent of respondents are now expecting the pandemic to interrupt plans and are packing the car accordingly. This ranged from packing extra medicines and activities to entertain the kids, to packing for a quick escape and survival in a post-apocalyptic world with canned goods, camping equipment, even weapons.
