We’re going camping this weekend – just like we do every July 4th weekend.
We’ll pack up and meet my family at a state park where we will all get sunburned, eat way too much chocolate, and laugh so much we cry.
Sounds wonderful doesn’t it?!
It is wonderful!
That is – it’s wonderful – once we get past the “pack up” part and are on the road!
I don’t like packing. There’s a lot of stuff needed when you pack up 7 people for 4 days of camping.
So many things to find – little shampoo bottles for everyone, old towels that can get sandy and dirty (but not so old that they embarrass me!), old shoes, old clothes, and then there’s all the food!
There’s a lot of stuff you can forget.
I decided some time ago that each child would need to be responsible to pack themselves. What they pack is what they live with for the weekend.
If they forget their swimsuit – they don’t go swimming.
If they forget their tennis shoes – they will hike in flip flops.
If they forget their toothbrush – well, um – we’ll just make sure they sleep in another cabin! 
Sound hard core? Maybe – but so far it’s working! They’ve handled the responsibility well. They may have forgotten things, but they figured out how to function without them – and it wasn’t Mom’s fault.
But still – packing isn’t without it’s stresses. Have you ever noticed that things just “disappear” when you start to pack?
One son lost all the shorts in his dresser – they just disappeared?! Just a month ago he had enough shorts for a week long camp – now he’s down to just 2 pairs?
Is it just me – or does this sound vaguely familiar?
But we’ll keep pushing through. A wonderful weekend with some of my favorite people on earth is well worth it!
So little by little things get crossed off the list and the pile by the door gets bigger.
Oh dear.
That pile by the door – somehow we need to get it all in the mini-van!
Have I mentioned that I really don’t like packing!
It’s that time once again – the weekend that my children look forward to all year – it’s time to go camping.