This weekend is our “Get Ready for the Trip” weekend.  Daughter#3 won’t get the “all clear” to travel due to the gash in her leg until at least next Friday, so I’m not sure when exactly we’ll be leaving for our annual mommy/kids road trip.  But, this is the weekend when all the heavy lifting for the trip gets done. And, by “heavy lifting” I mean locating all of the stuff that we know we already have, like shoes and underwear, but can’t ever locate when it is time to pack for a trip.

As with every trip this one has attracted the trip fairies and their magic Emergency Room dust.  In fact Daughter#3’s tangle with the floor and the drinking glass last week put us way ahead of schedule with that.  Usually we are a couple days into a trip before someone is stitched up or on crutches. This time we have nailed both of those and we haven’t even started packing yet!

Prep for a trip at our house is always a miraculous event. Not a good miracle, but a miracle nonetheless. On any given day my pack has no problem coming up with 6 different complete outfits to change into and out of at the drop of a hat simply to produce extra laundry for me to deal with.  But, somehow they are unable to come up with more than 2 t-shirts, both of which are stained, and a pair of cutoff jeans, with a big hole in the seat when it’s time to prepare for a trip.

My pack can always find plenty of shoes when it’s time to start loading suitcases.  They locate shoes that have been missing for years.  Naturally, only a couple of the 207 shoes they come up with actually fit anyone.  And, of course, any shoes that fit them have no mates.  The trip fairies never miss a trick!  We’re usually lucky if we can find shoes that almost fit and kind of match for them to wear to the store to buy shoes for the trip.

Socks, undies, flashlights, and hair brushes also seem to go into hiding the second we break out the suitcases.  Every child also goes through a suitcase-appearance triggered growth spurt resulting in the clothes they can locate suddenly being 2 sizes too small.

Naturally since it is the middle of summer the stores have no shorts, bathing suits, or flip flops in stock.  They don’t have room for them, what with all of the snow suits, coats, and school supplies they’ve brought in.

And, when we are packing for a trip that is the week WalMart and Target both decide to stop carrying underwear and socks, just until we leave town of course.  We will spend the better part of the weekend scouring every store in a 30 mile radius for any travel wardrobe deficiencies, and still show up at Grandma’s house with at least two of my kids looking like they’re homeless as they alternate between the same two stained t-shirts and ratty tennis shoes for our entire visit.

The trip to the store won’t be a total loss, though.  We can pick up some snow boots which we have plenty of time to lose before this winter, and 53 glue sticks that will dematerialize the first time someone has a school project due in the fall.

Don’t panic when you hear screaming this weekend.  It’s just me staring at the empty underwear shelf at yet another store!

Laugh Out Loud!

-gina

What’s got you packin’?  I want to hear all the details, juicy or not!  Shoot me a comment before somebody needs you to find something for them.  Again!