Earlier this week, Gianna and I hit the road with Joe as he traveled to Indianapolis for work. It was a vacation for me – a hotel stay, dinners out, HGTV on cable, a good book, a hot bath and no cooking, cleaning, or laundry for two entire days!
But have you ever traveled with an infant, friends? They require a lot of stuff. I had to pack a bag for Gianna, enough diapers, wipes and burp cloths for three days, a Pack ‘N’ Play, Moby, Boppy, stroller, swaddle blankets, and sheets for the Pack ‘N’ Play – not to mention my own clothes and laptop. Plus, I had to factor in spit-up, which means taking the number of things you think you’ll need for your trip, then tripling it.
So, I packed the bags, and then I piled all that stuff in the dining room, where Joe saw the pile and laughed. It was the kind of laugh you laugh when you’re trying not to cry, I think. (He, by the way, only had to pack for himself – one bag, plus his laptop.)
It got ugly after Joe realized that his trunk would only hold the stroller and the Pack ‘N’ Play – everything else had to fit in the back seat (alongside Gianna and her car seat). I sensed a definite note of frustration in Joe’s voice on his fourth trip out of the house, still heavy-laden with luggage. I explained to him the simple gone-for-three-days-and-spit-up equation, but he was muttering under his breath too loudly to hear me.
When I walked out of the house, Joe was hunched over the back seat, trying to squeeze his suitcase into the mix.
“I can’t believe all this stuff!” he yelled in frustration. I leaned over the back seat on the other side just in time to see my box of carefully stacked diapers and burp cloths topple.
“Joe!” I shouted. “Be careful! I think everything would’ve fit fine if you’d planned a little better.”
“Did you just yell at me?!” Joe said, straightening from the back seat.
I straightened too, glaring at him over the top of the car.
“You yelled first,” I countered icily.
“Do you want to stay home?” he asked me.
“Are you threatening me?” I replied, eyes flashing. Then I added, “Do you want to unpack this car?”
I think it was my last comment that did it. No way did Joe want all his hard work to go to waste. We piled into the car, the cold silence punctuated only by the squalls of a baby, frantic to get out of her car seat.
The good news is that we were both over it before we left Zanesville – a sign of growth from our second year of marriage, I’d say. (The even better news is that Gianna soon fell asleep and slept the entire way.)
If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this simple equation: amount of stuff you think you’ll need each day x number of days you’ll be away x 3. Pack with care.
Just an FYI for all the readers out there, I was certainly not backed down by the unpacking comment!
I love you, Katie! Your posts are so refreshingly REAL LIFE.
I remember when Ben and JJ would travel with both of the little boys, and a dog!! Oi, what “stuff” they had!!!