We’re the sort of family that when we set a time, we stick to it. So we had decided that we’d be leaving for Canberra at 8am, and 8am it would be. We woke just before 7am and quickly packed showered and tidied so that we could leave on time.
Our house has a teeny spiral staircase and getting a suitcase from the bottom {where our bedrooms are} to the top is too much hard work for a princess like myself, so I informed hubby that the bag was ready when he was.
I grabbed a jacket for Lacey and armfuls of things {laptop, camera, handbag, snacks} and headed out to the car, almost on time – just 3 minutes past our decided leaving time.
As we drove down to Canberra I could see the outside temperature dropping, almost ten degrees less than what it was when we left Sydney {not factoring in the wind chill factor}. Our first stop was the Zoo, so Hubby & I hopped out of the car, bundled up in big jackets and scarves {me not Hubby} and then prepared Lacey for the chill-factor.
“Where’s her coat?” I asked Hubby.
Not only had I dropped her jacket somewhere at home, Hubby had also forgotten a jacket he’d assumed he’d grabbed for her too. We were officially bad parents.
“I have a beanie for her,” I muttered, as if it were a weak consolation prize. We rummaged through our suitcase and wrapped her up on our own jumpers, popped the beanie on her and went on our way, frustrated at our poor packing skills.
After a day full of exploring we lay in bed watching TV, with little Lacey snoring between us. “Did you grab the toiletry bag?” I asked Hubby who was in charge of putting the bag in the car.
“Did you pack it? All I did was take the bag up the stairs and to the car,” Hubby wiped his hands clean of any responsibility.
“No. I put it beside the suitcase on the bed, and thought you’d put it in. You always do.”
The conversation went back and forth with both of us trying to lay the blame on each other, and me wondering how on earth I’d get my hands on a toothbrush and toothpaste without having to brave the chilly near-zero temperatures.
“Did you pack your GHD {hair straightener}? Cos you’re going to be a sight with furry teeth AND crazy hair.”
I sighed, a GHD I had. Everything else I didn’t.
I searched the bag briefly before heading to bed for the night. Hubby hopped up not long after and searched the bag too {knowing how pathetic my search & rescue skills are}.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat to get my attention holding up a bag looking very much like our toiletry bag.
We cracked up laughing, almost waking Lacey, and then headed off to the land of nod, comforted in the fact that we would have clean teeth and deodorant for the next day.
Is your family always late, or always on time? What’s something important that you’ve forgotten to pack for a trip away?
Busy packing our bags right now ;-). I'm a checklist fanatic (I try to write the list a couple of days before he trip) and try to stick to my lists as not to forget anything important. That does not mean we never do, but my hubby always tells me we are not traveling into the wilderness ;-). I just hate having to go out buying stuff again we already have. I'm usually perfectly happy if we leave half an hour late, just tomorrow w got to catch a train ;-). Back to packing – maks 🙂
Have a very Happy Birthday Chantelle and a happy healthy birthday year.
We just arrived home from a huge overseas trip. I obsessively wrote lists, packed spares of everything. Then on one 26 hour leg (yes, 26 hours!) I forgot spare clothes for my daughter. OOPS. We now own several nasty touristy shirts from airports!
I have gain some wisdom in the years of packing for a trip but for some reason there is always one thing I forget. It is never the same thing but it is always important.
I have moved around so many times, so Im used to the spontaneous road trip. I can pack very quickly now without too much fuss, not forgetting anything!
Im also due to have my first child any moment, so im thinking that this magical power I possess will be gone after babies arrival hahaha. Im already stressing about all the stuff bub will need for a day out walking! let alone an overnight stay at grandparents places…..
There's been a few times I've fogotten my contact lense case, which means I can't take them out to sleep. Which means I can't sleep!! A tired mummy is never a good thing!
PS. Just quietly… happy birthday! 🙂
we have had a weekend much like this one- drove5 hours to our destination to find it flooded. not cool!
I am pretty good at packing – my technique is to never rely on hubby & just do it all myself. You & your hubby sound JUST like my parents though, which gave me a giggle. They are forever laying blame on each other about who forgot what 😉
Happy birthday, dearest Telle!! Yay for you! I hope you are having a spoiled and splendid day today. You deserve the best kind of day and a great year ahead.
I can't talk about packing. I am still in recovery from a weekend away two weeks ago. Packing and me? Friends. UNpacking and me? SO NOT friends! x
Despite every effort to make it to places on time, to leave on time, to BE on time, we almost always run late. Sometimes not by much, but late all the same.
As for packing, that is ALWAYS my job and it's rare that I remember everything. Beach towels, deodorant, toothpaste are common things omitted from the suitcase :o)
This sounds so much like my hubby & me!
We always forget things, but most of all the thing that we constantly remind ourselves to take.
We have left the pram at home when we went to visit my parents a mere 8hr drive away. That was difficult!
I try and write big lists and make sure everything is done the day before we leave and as much packed in the car as possible and then walk around the house, double checking the list before we walk out the door.
It must be some miracle that we manage to get out the door on time!
Remembering to pack everything for the holiday is fine, It's arriving home after EVERY trip with no phone charger and a low battery that does my head in! Seems someone needs to learn how to do a proper idiot check! X
always on time or early – but no one else is, so we look like freaks.
Yeah, forgetting something sounds like something that would happen to me. But I'm also the sort of person who checks their bag to make sure they haven't forgotten anything, and then checking it again, and again, and again. So luckily I haven't forgotten anything yet. But there's still the next trip…
Oh, I was nodding along to your entire post!!! Especially bad when you then see another parent who is entirely prepared with what seems like a Mary Poppins bag – everything from jumpers, to spare clothes, to sunscreen etc.
Inevitably with 4 kids, including a newborn, we're always late or forgetting SOMETHING!!!
Oh, I have so been there! Once, an hour into a 3 hour trip to my parent's cottage, I realize that I forgot ALL of our clothes! I wasn't about to turn around and drive an hour home, and then 3 hours to the cottage, so I stopped at a second hand store and bought enough clothes for myself and my 5 kids. Because the cottage is in Northern Ontario, Canada, and the temperature drops at night, they needed a wide range of clothing (from bathing suits to warm sweaters), which only added to the cost. Most of the kids were alright with it, but the oldest one grumbled and complained the whole time. I'm a list maker, and don't normally forget anything, so I was pretty mad at myself over this mess-up.
My husband also has a pretty annoying habit of not helping to pack a single thing, but then spending the entire trip frantically asking, “Did you remember to pack (insert item)?!” Grrr….. I could just open the car door and push him out when he does that!
Anyway, sorry to ramble…. loved the post, and your entire, beautiful blog! 🙂