Saturday, July 3, 2010

Leaving on a jet plane

Packed

We're flying to New York on Tuesday and I have a few (hundred) things to do. Thankfully my daughter is all packed. This is a picture of what she thinks she's taking on the plane. Who is this girl? For the last few months she has this thing where she pads round the house holding a bag and just starts putting stuff in it. All kinds of toys, balls, dolls, silverware, trivets, napkins, food items, candles, batteries. By last Tuesday I counted five large bags (beach bags, shopping bags, backpacks, purses etc.) filled with her "stuff". Just looking at all of these things thrown together with no common attributes makes me just about have a brain hemorrhage. And she wonders why she can't find her flip flops (well one of them is in this box, I'm pretty sure, under the wallet). It turns out several other girls in her class are also exploring this kind of hoarding bahvior but I have a feeling she's the one who started it all. She's a bag lady. I finally dumped the contents of all five bags on the floor and made my kids sort everything to put away. They actually got into it and she then started rushing around the house looking for things that were out of place. But half an hour later she was asking me for another bag like it was crystal meth. Please mommy, I just need one bag. Just one. This is the last time.

So since I can think of nothing else right now except all of the stuff I have to get done before we leave, and by we I mean me and the kids. by myself. on a plane with them. forever. I'm just going to list it all out here in no partifular order:
  1. Let everyone know that they can vote for me for best artist or ketubah maker (or both) in the J Weekly Reader's Choice poll. go here: www.jweekly.com/readerschoice and click through til you see Ketubah Maker and a page or so later Jewish Artisan. And do it by July 5. And tell everyone you know. Yeah.
  2. Get a new battery for my watch.
  3. Pack.
  4. Print and ship current orders.
  5. Reserve a rental car.
  6. Find some unsuspecting family member to pick me up at 11:00 pm from JFK on Tuesday.
  7. Schedule a hearing test appointment for my daughter.
  8. Schedule dental appointments for both kids.
  9. Order niece's birthday gift.
  10. Buy snack food for flight.
  11. Print out itinerary.
  12. Check out videos from the library.
  13. Charge all electronic devices.
  14. Buy an iPhone and learn how to use it. (Question: is it better to by an iPhone at the Apple store or the AT&T store or online?)
  15. Print out Long Island Railroad train schedules in case I don't end up getting my iPhone. 
  16. Post blog. Check.

8 comments:

  1. hi susie, that's too funny. i will have to watch for that behaviour down the road in my own daughter.

    do you want to be with AT&T. we just moved from Australia to Boston and since I am going to back to Canada next year I didn't want to be tied to At&T for two years and also I wouldn't be able to use my phone. In Austrlia (and Europe and SA) most phones are unlocked. I know that from my research that you can buy legally unlocked phones in the states. There is maybe only 1 or 2 dealers, but try searching buy.com They are a bit more money up front but then you have the freedom of choosing your own provider and you can use it in other countries -- you just have to buy new SIM cards and stick them in.

    the phone is really brilliant -- i now see why they are so popular. i love mine and can't imagine life without it!

    x, d
    ps: on our flight home my daughter was sick with a gastro and was vomitting and had explosive diarrhea. i kept thinking of your story and was just happy i didn't have two kids.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i chuckled at this. i have a hoarder and try to keep her from all open containers. she'll fill anything with random crap from all over the house. never know when i'll find one of her "surprise boxes" and you cannot imagine how long they take to disassemble and return to their rightful spots. or maybe you can!

    ReplyDelete
  3. you are not alone. My daughter too is packing everything she "thinks" she needs on our upcoming trip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. omg you are funny. I can so relate as we are leaving on a jet plane tomorrow. You are funny. I love coming here! Hope you are having a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So funny, my girls used to pack bags like that too. Going through them and putting each little random piece away is most definitely the worst part. Thankfully, they are starting to outgrow this habit, so there's hope yet.

    Rec'd my print and love it, thanks. Hope you had a great vacation, looks like you were on the east coast for a nice heat wave...ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Isn't there a reality show for that?

    :D

    Hey, Susie, hope you're having a great trip. Hope you're not melting in the heat, either. I had to travel by myself with toddlers quite a few times, so I FULLY sympathize with you! I had to remind myself that it might be hell, but the pain will eventually stop.

    Thanks for your lovely comment and visits. And have a fantastic summer!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Noa is the same way and has been since she was about two. I realized fairly soon that she was simply modeling herself after me!

    In 1995, I arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport after having spent a year in Budapest; my sister met me at the airport and was horrified to see that I had travelled with 7 bags: two had zippers, one was a rattan woven basket, and then there was a paper bag and three plastic bags, including one with an old Dutch rack for hanging chickens!

    I've tried to cut back on bags since I saw my reflection in Noa but haven't changed that much.

    Do you walk out of the house with more than one bag? Is it full of different things?!?

    (Are we going camping this weekend?)
    xok

    ReplyDelete
  8. Last week I was mentally composing an article that I will never publish titled "In defense of the term bag lady". Inspired by my own use of "homeless" person, which I realized is full of irrational assumption. Plenty of the folks we see pushing bags are just really into their bags/collections/possessions. Mentally ill, sure, but homeless? How can I possibly know that, yet I throw the term around anyway. Maybe your daughter grow up to have a lovely home, full of possessions, and if she chooses to push them around in a shopping cart as a weekend hobby, well then I hope she can do it proudly.

    ReplyDelete