Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Packing

My 2 oldest boys have been responsible for packing their own clothes when we go out of town for years. I tell them what they need to pack, they go pack, & then when they bring their bags down, I review what they were supposed to pack. That has worked out pretty well for us so far.

We did the same routine for the wedding this weekend. I told them both they needed to pack for one night, including shirt, shorts, underwear, pj's, swimming suit, nice clothes for the wedding, nice shoes for the wedding, & their toothbrushes.

They actually had both been invited to sleepovers the night before the wedding, so Chris picked them up in the morning so they could make sure they packed everything they needed. (Side note, we really need to plan better to ensure the boys are not both gone on the same nights, that was a lot of work taking care of the 3 babies with only Chris & I!) During this time, Cameron realized he didn't have his toothbrush, and Tyler decided it would be a good time to clarify what clothes would be considered "nice" for the wedding.

I told Tyler that he could wear shorts, but not jean shorts. I told him the white checkered shorts he got from Old Navy would be good, with a nice blue shirt. However, I wasn't specific enough on that one. He did bring a nice blue shirt, with stripes. It did not look so good with the checkered shorts, so he ended up wearing jean shorts. Cameron put on the shirt he brought to discover it was too small, luckily he had a jacket to go with it, but it was pretty warm out.

We needed to stop at WalMart anyway, because Chris forgot his swimming suit & we needed powdered formula for Baylee, so I found each of them an inexpensive shirt to wear to the reception. Once we got back to the hotel, Tyler realized he had forgotten clothes for the next day. Then when they went swimming, Cameron discovered he didn't have his swimming suit.

Both of those were items that I specifically asked them before we left the house. When I asked them if they had packed those items, they both stated yes! And, yet, since their father also forgot his swimming trunks, it was kind of hard to get upset with the boys.

The babies & I all had everything we needed, including snacks, because when you are dealing with a 1 & 3 year old, you can't have too many snacks. (The formula didn't count because we didn't have any powdered formula at home for me to have packed, plus WalMart had the formula on clearance for $5.00 a can!!! I bought 3!) In fact the babies all had 4 outfits packed because do you know how fast they can pee through their clothes?! I also had at least 12 diapers/pull-ups for each of them. That may sound like a lot, but that is what I always pack for them, and I have run out while we were away before! (See the previous entry on Diarrhea while we're out of town)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

$5/can? Lucky break! I buy the parent's choice 2nd step formula and it is $12.88/can. I buy 3-4 at a time and usually make it 2 weeks before I need to buy more.

As far as packing- I am the queen of organized packing because we traveled a lot when I was younger. My husband's family is awful. We once went to Gettysburg for several days and not one (his parents, brother or sister) remembered deodorant, toothpaste, or toothbrushes. My husband and I couldn't believe it.