Packing

I have been married for four years now, but that certainly isn’t enough time to gaze longingly back at the days when I was single and had one thing on my mind: me. I don’t mean that in any sort of extremely problematic self-centered way. (Even thought I am certainly as self-centered as the next guy.) I just mean life was so much easier when I had only my own clothes to wash, small apartment to clean, meals to cook (or pour if I simply ate cereal three times a day), time to kill and suitcase to pack. The latter has been especially on my mind these past two days.

It used to be if I was going on a trip, I tossed things in a bag, boarded a plane and took off to wherever with as little stress as airports allow. At one point, I had been a list-maker as far as packing went, but I gave that up when traveling to visit friends or family became a norm. I should probably go back to making a list, but the simple fact is the less steps I have to take in the whole packing process (and it is a process!) the better. As I told Ed, “It used to take me fifteen minutes to pack for a trip. Now it takes me fifteen hours.”

Which is almost not an exaggeration. Honestly. I started packing at nine this morning. It is now twelve hours later, I’m still waiting an a load of laundry to dry and I’ll have last minute things to throw in tomorrow morning. But gone are the days of taking clothes from my closet and dresser, throwing them in a bag, zipping it up and walking out the door. Instead…

First thing on the agenda was getting Emry’s “fish bag” from the back of her closet. (This is small suitcase/backpack with Finding Dory that Aunt Katey had sent around Christmas.) She packed the only thing she felt she needed for our nearly three-week stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s: her panda which she refers to as “Emry Panda”. (We also have Mama Panda, Papa Panda and Ethan Panda in case you’re wondering.) That done, she had no further desire to pack and since the rain was holding off, I told her we would walk down to the library to drop off the books we had. Well, the “fish bag” (which has wheels) now became Emry Panda’s stroller and needed to go on our walk to the library with us. By now you can probably see how this whole packing thing was going to go…

In conclusion, I have managed to get the kids belongings packed. Maybe a bit more than needed, but I can never quite tell how many outfits Ethan will go through in a 24-hour period. I think I have everything I need packed as well. To be honest, at this point I’m simply hoping I managed to pack enough items of clothing to see me through variables in weather and activities. At least Grandma’s washer and dryer seem to have an “eternal” cycle (in other words, laundry remains endless at my mom’s even after most of us have left home). I’ve packed car activities, blankets that cannot be lived without, food, drinks, electronics. The one responsibility I have not taken on with marriage: packing Ed’s things. For one, he’s only coming for a couple of days before leaving us there and returning to Pittsburgh to work. Two, he was single for nearly 40 years – he can pack a suitcase.

Big sigh. Truly, some days I really, really, really, really miss being single.