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| Check! Check! Check! The Overnight Camp Packing List |
Let’s start with last year. How
NOT to pack. Last year for overnight camp, we spent a week sorting through.
Picking out. Labeling. Labeling. LABELING. Stocking up on countless Ziplock
baggies in various sizes. Driving to giant stores with lots o’ things to
purchase stuff. Then, sorting all those items into the Ziplock baggies and
labeling those baggies with Sharpie after Sharpie after precious Sharpie…. 6
pairs of socks in this baggie. 7 shirts in this one. 8 undies here.
With the precision of a
surgical team preforming Rhinoplasty on a budding Hollywood Star, my son and I
worked together, Check! Check! Check!, following to the detail the holy grail of the Packing List prescribed by the
Camp:
Pre-addressing envelopes for
all of the witty, heart-felt letters he would write to his family whilst away.
Gathering age-appropriate novels he would read cover-to-cover whilst in
rest-time. Selecting the perfect journal in which he would scribble his deepest
thoughts about his daily, life-changing experiences.
And, my favorite, running
around looking for an appropriate “musical instrument, optional” – would a toy
accordion displaying our proud Polish roots suffice??? (If yes, insert into Ziplock baggie and label “Musical
Instrument”)
All hundred-billion,
expertly-labeled baggies later, we carefully placed all check-list items into giant
duffle bag – Check! Check! Check! A masterpiece of packing agility and ability.
He would survive!
And now…..Cut to this year. The
“10 Minutes or Less” program……
Yes, a year later and much, much the wiser, yesterday I, literally,
wandered into my son’s room while he was off at a haircut. Opened a drawer. Looked
for the grubbiest, grungiest, darkest, most sad looking items. Grabbed them one
by one. Made little piles. Yup, that looks like about 6 shirts… Yup, 3 pair
undies. … Yup, a toothbrush…Yup, yup, yup.…And tossed them all in a free-form super-jumble into
his giant duffle and…….. voila! Packed in 10 minutes or less without a Sharpie
or Ziplock in sight!
No age-appropriate novel, no
journal, no pre-addressed envelopes. No booklight, no nothing but the extreme
basics. And, seriously, no optional musical-instrument this year– he can just grab
a blade of grass and blow, my friends….
For, you see, last year, of
the 7 t-shirts packed, 3 were actually worn. Of the toiletries so painstakingly
sorted, only the toothbrush was used, maybe once. Of the pre-addressed
envelopes hand-written so he could send hilarious, campy-anecdotes to grandpas
across the land – yeah, right.
He played from 7am-10pm each
day, falling into bed exuberantly exhausted each night. He got dirty. Really,
really dirty. He avoided the shower (bar of soap came back completely intact,
gasp!) and became a wild, mountain urchin whilst away.
And, a year later we see, that’s exactly why we send him.
Namaste & Happy Packing! -OM
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Disclaimer: No Ziplock Baggies were harmed during
this packing tornado. All Ziplock Baggies were rinsed and happily re-used.
