Willow, Che and I are traveling to see the grandparents, aunts, cousins and Mos (or is it Moes or is it Mo's or is it Moses?) in Henderson, Tenn., this weekend.
And that brings up one of the big differences between being a couple without kids and being a couple with kids: packing for travel (they even have an app for that, God bless us packing-weary parents).
Back in my pre-child days, packing hardly mattered, probably taking up 1 zillionth of a tenth of a percent of my brain capacity to do (six days equals six days of socks and underwear plus some T-shirts, some shorts, a pair or two of pants, put on some shoes, throw in some toothpaste, and I was off).
That's hardly the case anymore. Take, for example, if you have a spit-up-prone baby. Do you take two burp clothes, four, eight or, maybe, 16? Better take 24. And how many diapers do you take? Or wipes? Do I need to take baby medicine? Is it going to be cold or warm or cold and warm or warm and hot then ... AACK!!!
You get the picture.
And now I'm about to share with you what might just be the biggest perk of having a stay-at-home parent: you can stay at home and spend the better part of a day packing (I honestly have no idea how working parents do pack).
We traveled A LOT during Willow's first nine months, and I needed all day on the day of departure to pack. AND I HAD AN APP FOR THAT!
Now I have it down to a science (if you count packing for Willow in just three hours to be a science).
But ... hey, wait ... I'm wasting valuable time here ...
I need to go pack!
And that brings up one of the big differences between being a couple without kids and being a couple with kids: packing for travel (they even have an app for that, God bless us packing-weary parents).
Back in my pre-child days, packing hardly mattered, probably taking up 1 zillionth of a tenth of a percent of my brain capacity to do (six days equals six days of socks and underwear plus some T-shirts, some shorts, a pair or two of pants, put on some shoes, throw in some toothpaste, and I was off).
That's hardly the case anymore. Take, for example, if you have a spit-up-prone baby. Do you take two burp clothes, four, eight or, maybe, 16? Better take 24. And how many diapers do you take? Or wipes? Do I need to take baby medicine? Is it going to be cold or warm or cold and warm or warm and hot then ... AACK!!!
You get the picture.
And now I'm about to share with you what might just be the biggest perk of having a stay-at-home parent: you can stay at home and spend the better part of a day packing (I honestly have no idea how working parents do pack).
We traveled A LOT during Willow's first nine months, and I needed all day on the day of departure to pack. AND I HAD AN APP FOR THAT!
Now I have it down to a science (if you count packing for Willow in just three hours to be a science).
But ... hey, wait ... I'm wasting valuable time here ...
I need to go pack!
It gets easier as they get bigger, I promise! I packed for six days at Mom's, for three of us, in one of those rolling suitcases that fits in an overhead bin, three small tote bags (toys j, toys e, crafts/camera me) and favorite blankies. And we didn't even wash clothes while we were there. (Though we could have. And if you're visiting family, you should plan to, too!) Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteOh, and a jump rope and soccer ball in the car.
ReplyDelete