MyFavoriteKid (whom I should probably refer to as MyBabyyyyy!!! for this post) is leaving tomorrow to go on a week long educational trip with his school. From the orientation night a few months back, it looks to me like the kids are going to have a total blast. Fifth grade. Wow. I took a trip like this once, but I think I was in 8th grade when we did it. These kids are only 10 and 11! MyBabyyyyy!!

I've been apart from MyFK for long stretches before. Close to three weeks, I believe has been the longest, when I was in culinary school and went to Paris as an exchange student. I have also taken a few two week trips while on tour for dance productions. But when I go away, MyFK has always stayed with family. Even though I have been away from him before, this will be his first time away from all of his family.

I think he is going to come back looking a foot taller and with the latest upgrade of smart assness installed. Would you agree?

Anyhow.....so home from school a couple of weeks ago comes the itemized packlist.


Figuring I should start the independence vibe early, Friday night I suggest to MyFK that he pack as much as he absolutely can and be done with it. We had a very busy weekend, and if there were to be any last minute items that needed to be shopped for, or dug out of a closet, or if anything needed to be tossed in the laundry, I did not want to be hearing about it Sunday night before bedtime.

So Friday night he goes into his room with a pen and the checklist. He comes out if his room every thirty seconds or so to ask help in finding this or that. Yeah, independence. About thirty minutes go by, and he declares himself packed. He asks if he can now go play video games. I ask to look over the list. Everything is checked off!
Wow! Sure! Great job! Okay! Go play!

Tonight? Sunday??? As I sit together with MyFk to do the final pack? I begin to realize that maybe, and I do mean maybe, 50% of the list is in the duffel bag.

"Ummmm, son....WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??!! Why did you check things off you didn't pack??!! You've checked off all of these things, and they aren't in the bag! The idea is to only check off what you have put in the suitcase, that way you can easily scan the list to see what you still need to do!"

"Well, I did do that!! I put a check mark next to the things that I packed, and an "X" next to things I didn't."

*sigh*
I can't wait to tell y'all the "percentage of items returned home".
This oughta be interesting.

So our late night scramble for packing tonight did make for a later than normal bedtime. I'll make up the lost sleep on Tuesday when I don't have a get up early to do the MommyDrill. And I wasn't mad about the list. We had a good laugh over it, actually. You should see my imitation of MyFK crossing things off a checklist.

The other thing that had us splitting a gut ('cuz we're strange and find these things funny, I guess) was that on the "Do Not Bring" list, right underneath comic books and next to curling irons, it says not to bring "Hatchets".

Maybe you had to have been there....