Bottom of the Bag

Before I ever took a trip with both girls, I was already nervous.

Not just the usual “will the layover be long enough” kind of nervous. I was anxious for days, imagining the juggling, the meltdowns, the logistics. But mostly, I was haunted by one very specific ritual: Eleanor’s backpack dump.

Every time we stopped - check-in counter, gate, airplane, fucking McDonalds... - she’d unzip her bag and empty it. Completely. Crayons, books, snacks, tiny treasures. All of it, everywhere. And then I’d repack it. Again. And again. And again.

I kept thinking: There has to be a better way.

I wanted her to feel ownership over her things. I mean I didn't want to deal with them! But we needed a better system, one that worked for her. And a backpack... it wasn't cutting it.  

That’s when the idea started to take shape.

Between work calls and bedtime stories, I kept returning to it. I’d sketch in the margins of to-do lists, scribble notes between meetings, and daydream about a bag that could meet kids where they are. One that fostered creativity and independence, AND made it easy to get to THE thing they wanted - the one that is always, inevitably, at the bottom of the backpack. 

Loyal & Elvie was born from that tension: the desire to honor our kids’ autonomy while preserving our sanity.

Next week, I’ll show you the very first prototype. It was… let’s just say, a glorified trapper-keeper. Not even glorified, it was a trapper keeper! But it was a start. And it made me believe this idea could actually live outside my head.

Until then, follow along on Instagram