My work here is done

If you read this blog, you know that I pack in a certain way and complete an index card for each outfit.  I start figuring out what I need weeks in advance and begin the long process of gathering everything up.  Not only do I do this for myself but depending on who in my family is traveling with me, I do it for them as well.

The children who live at my house have begun making trips on their own or with other family members without me.  Both of them leave on Tuesday with their grandmother to make a visit back east to spend three weeks with our relatives there.  Ed and I don’t go to join up with them until July 3rd.  Some of us work . . . and aren’t on summer vacation or retired – but we’re not bitter.  Actually, we’re going to pretend we never had children for a whole nine days.

Not the girl’s luggage, she does’t like cute stuff

Anyway, weeks ago I started prepping them to begin to think about packing and what they need to get if they need something.  No one, and I do mean no one, acted as if they were going to need to go on a shopping trip for the trip.  That is until Friday night hit. Friday night consisted of “when are we going shopping?, you know we leave on Tuesday, we need stuff, blah, blah, blah”.

My first thought was to teach them both a lesson and not take them shopping on Saturday but who would that really hurt?  Them or me – who didn’t go shopping?  So, come Saturday morning, off we went to the outlets just over an hour from our house.  We got pretty near everything they needed.  I even got the cutest summer dress . . .

We unpacked our haul and the girl started laying out outfits, asking me what went with what.  This is the girl who doesn’t care what she looks like.  Then, she gets out a piece of paper and starts writing it all down.  Tears filled my eyes.  I think I may have sobbed.  I fully believed she was never going to learn anything from me.  It was a proud moment when I realized I’d passed down this bit of OCD to her.

My next goal is to get her to understand when she goes to college she needs to wash her sheets far more than the national average of once every six months.  I’ll let you know how it goes . . .