Everything’s In There!
After Dylan went away for a week without a towel, I was extra careful when giving the boys a packing list for camp. It’s their first week of camp ever, for both of them (and will be much harder on me than it is on them).
This time, I made a fresh packing list and didn’t depend on the pre-made list from the website. That didn’t seem to work for Dylan before, so I worked extra hard on the new list.
I separated items – like “toiletries” became an actual list of toiletries, not just a vague title for what might go into the boys’ new toiletry bags. I put large check boxes next to each item, so that they could actually check off each item as they packed it. Their list was long – but easy to read, simple to follow, and in an order that kept clothes with clothes, bedding with bedding, etc.
After half an hour, both boys insisted that they were finished with packing. There were huge mounds of clothes and things on my bed, waiting for me to put them into their suitcases. It looked like they had done well, but I wanted to be sure they had everything they needed.
“Where’s your list?” I asked Shane. “Did you check off everything as you packed?”
“Yeah,” Shane said. “But I didn’t use a pencil.”
“Where’s your list, Dylan?” I asked. “You left on your last trip without a towel, so you checked off everything in the little boxes, right?”
“No,” Dylan grumbled. “I didn’t need to. Everything’s in there.”
“You’re sure?” I asked. “Don’t you want to go back through using the check boxes? I made them special!”
“Everything’s in there!” he insisted.
So I went in to pack. And there was a lot of stuff there – nearly everything on the list.
There was only one thing missing – and it was missing from both piles. Both kids had completely overlooked one item.
They both forgot to pack a bath towel.