I hate packing!

Packing is my least favorite part of a vacation. I don't know why it stresses me out but it does. The right clothes are never clean which calls for laundry and I always worry that I am going to forget something. Heavens forbid I forget someone's swimsuit and someone doesn't get to swim. I always forget the strangest things too. One time I forgot dress socks for Bret (I think it was Christmas and he had to borrow some of his dad's), another time I forgot enough underwear for me. You think...how could she forget something so simple as underwear but I think you forget that I pack for four people..two of which are young children that require so many extras that yes forgetting the basics for me is possible. I think I also forgot to mention that our trips are usually for extended period of times and places that you can't always just run to Walmart. Although the cruise last year and Disney this week are trips you don't want to pay a ridiculous amount of money for forgotten things...Bret's parents for a long time lived 90 minutes from the nearest Walmart and the little one room store had limited hours which left us with little options.

So my solution to this panic is lists. I create a very detailed list for each person of every last thing that need to be taken with us. I check and double check the lists. I also try to pack the most important things first so they don't get lost in the decisions of how much warm vs cool clothes to take trains of thought. I think it goes back to one of those thankless mom moments. Mom takes care of everyone by trying to remember everything necessary to make a lifelong memorable trip. However, when she forgets something (Emily's baby, Bret's hat, Palmer's swim diapers, etc) it is all her fault. The guilt and hard feelings of this are the reason I spend so much time trying to avoid this exact situation. I am sure that we all can remember a time our mom forgot something and how upset we were with her not thinking that maybe it wasn't all her fault or how bad she already felt.

We leave tomorrow evening, then come back for a week, then leave again for Kansas. Wow what a crazy October month and it hasn't even started yet. Sometime in there I still have Halloween costumes to sew. None the less we are going to have a good time and I am really excited. Stay tuned for Disney pictures!