(I wonder if this is how mother's with several children feel?)
We have 4 or 5 changes of clothes. Because we might go from hot to cold, because often an adult is cold, and a kid comes out and is suddenly hot in the very same room, or vise versa. Or someone wants blue shorts, but someone else HAS to have the red pants with stars. And why does she get to take her favorite sweatshirt and I don't get to take mine? Okay, so now we throw BOTH sweatshirts in the bag. Then there is deciding on which stuffed animal to take-- the bear, the elephant, the Heffalump, or a doll? Because we don't want to hurt any of their feelings (because everyone under 9 thinks that everything in the world is alive and has feelings and thoughts, of course) Finally I just picked the Heffalump because he was closest to the bag already. But wait, there's more, after we finally put enough clothes for 6 people to get through the weekend into the bag. Now we need entertainment. If it were just me going, I could take one book and read that in the car. But we have children. Children who have WAY too much on their minds and must constantly be allowed to express themselves, or else they drive the grown ups crazy. Or course, the grown ups are the same way, so who are we to talk? So, we need a coloring book (Winnie the Pooh), a plain coloring pad, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, pens and pencils, a notebook to write in, a journal for the adults. Not done yet... everyone wants their own things to read. I think there must be 6 books in the bag now. We've got everything from a psychology book, The Secret Garden (Mae and Claire are reading it), Alice in Wonderland, a book on autism, the Best of Calvin and Hobbes for Tuck, and at least 2 children's books. Still not done... now on to the iPod, which in and of itself has multiple personalities. Everything from Michael W. Smith to Staind , Alannis Morrisette to Air Supply, Enya to John Lennon, Sting to Third Day, The Who to Louis Armstrong. Now we need to make sure there are things on it for everyone to watch-- episodes of House, Law & Order, Breed All About It, Sesame Street, and Princess Diaries. Thank God someone invented contraptions that can hold this much information. Oh and then there are snacks... juice, Diet Pepsi (the company I alone keep alive & well), goldfish crackers, candy, cookies, and baked Doritos, making sure that everyone has something they like. Its kind of like we are packing for a Girl Scout troup.
All of this for a 2 day trip.