On the left: Daddy’s Backpack. On the right: Caleb’s Backpack. After a lot of searching, I bought the latter earlier this afternoon as my main Christmas gift to Caleb. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that Caleb and I like to roam around Boston, or wherever else we are, having “adventures.” Mention to him that tomorrow is “Daddy Day” and ask him what he wants to do, and he’ll respond emphatically, “Have an adventure!”

Since we always load my red backpack (which he and I picked out together some months ago) with supplies before we head out the door for our adventures, he has built a strong connection to the backpack and having fun with me. If we are having a lazy afternoon, sometimes he’ll drag the backpack over to me and ask if I want to go outside and have an adventure. It is very cute and makes me very happy.

So, when thinking about what gift I could give him for Christmas, I decided it was time to get him his own backpack. I’ve been noodling on the idea for many weeks and tried a woman’s hydration pack on him during our trip to Vermont last month. The pack was the perfect overall size — the base of the pack rested perfectly at his hips, and it was narrow enough overall to appear to distribute weight well. Wanting to get him a functional pack, rather than simply one he’d “play” with, I became determined to find one that would fit and have everything he might want.

The one I settled on is from REI (just like my red one) and is specifically designed for kids. I am sure it is meant for a child a bit older than Caleb, but it is hard to discount that he is tall enough for the pack to fit him perfectly. I tried it on him in the store and loaded it up with a one-pound weight, and then later with a five-pound weight. He handled the latter like a champ, and since he’d probably never have more than a pound or two (some raisins, a few carrot sticks, a toy car, his sunglasses, maybe a sandwich, and possibly a smidgen of water) in the pack until he is bigger, I decided that we had finally found our pack.

As a plus it has a hydration bladder that rests inside the main compartment, though I think we’ll only fill it up with a small amount of water given the amount of weight it added when we tried it out at full capacity tonight.

At any rate, I really like to hem and haw over the gifts I give, even if it means that I don’t get someone something because I haven’t found or devised the right “thing.” I am very happy with the backpack and plan to stuff it with a few other special gifts as well that I know Caleb will appreciate.