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Help me. I've got one month exactly before we leave on our week-long trip to Washington DC. We're driving.
I'm got so much to do I'm at a loss how to begin. Any tips? We've never had a family vacation this long before.
Adding to the chaos is that I still have chemo treatments to consider and have a paper due on June 19th and a mid-term June 28th.
Right now I'm trying to make sure everyone has enough clothes in good condition, most of my kids have outgrown last summer's clothes so I'll need to do some shopping. Oh, and did I mention - there's a formal occasion we'll be attending as well as a military funeral so I've got to have formal clothes for me and four kids and clothes appropriate for an internment in Arlington. (a friend of my dad's ashes are going to be interred while we're there, and they've invited the whole family to attend)
Any of you moms have some tips for how to prepare for this type of thing? Is there a system I should be following, some sort of checklist?
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Lists for everything. Lists of things to do, a list of stuff to pack broken down by family member, and keep revising the lists! Make lists for now, a week before, the day before, etc.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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If you are stopping at hotels enroute to DC have just a small suitcase with jammies, toiletries, and a change of clothes for everyone so you don't have to haul in lots of stuff (or dig through suitcase looking for someone's jammies in the hotel parking lot at 10 pm). And definitely keep the formal stuff in a suticase all by itself.
Definitely make a check-list-- start it now, everything you need to pack, what you need to buy, and refer to it and update it often. It's absolutely a necessity when you have as much going on as you do, and it will keep you from getting too stressed.
Don't hesitate to have your kids pack their own stuff, they love it, and if you give them a list it will help them be sure they have what they need. (Of course, you should check their bags before you leave!)
Posts: 239 | Registered: May 2004
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I come from a family of 9 and we drove on vacations every year. One of the things my mom did was absolutely vehemently insist that the deadline for having everything packed was at least 12 hours before departure time. I don't think we were ever actually ready by the deadline, but if it hadn't been there, we would defenitely have left very late.
Also, she would set the deadline for having us kids all packed about two days before the trip, just so she could verify that we had packed our bags correctly and pick up anything we didn't have and there wasn't any last minute rushing.
(Of course there was a whole heckuva lot of last minute rushing, but much much less than there would have been)
So that's all the advice I could give: set your deadlines for having things done well ahead of when you actually think the deadlines should be.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Now is also a good time for planning and doing any preventative/periodic maintenance on your vehicle to get it ready for the trip.
You also will probably want to make arrangements with a friend to have your mail/paper picked up and your puppies cared for while you are gone (if you're not boarding them or arranging to have your mail stopped for the time you're gone).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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We took roadtrips when I was young too. One thing my mom did to save time and space was to not pack suitcases. She packed laundry baskets. I am not too sure this will make sense explaining it but here goes. There were four landry baskets; one pack with clothes for here and my dad and one packed with clothes for me and my brother. The extra two laundry baskets were underneath the full ones. When we stopped for the day we each (including her and my dad) had our own little bags with toiletries, jammies, and personal items (like walkmans) and we took those to the trunk where she took the top outfit from each stack and put it in our bag for the next day. The next morning we took our dirty clothes to the trunk were the basket of clean clothes was lifted and the dirty clothes went in the basket underneath. When the dirty clothes basket got too full, we bought fast food and magazines and stopped by a laundomat for an hour (we were gone for two weeks or more on these vacations). My mom was very organized so the outfits were all folded together with undies and socks and everything. It was pretty easy.
You could still do this with formal clothes as well (just pack an iron) or you could go shopping once you get up there.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Belle, speaking as someone who may be moving a group of seven to DC permanently about that same time or shortly thereafter, I can only say good luck, you are a very brave person. If you see a Silver Ford Windstar full of kids and towing a Uhaul closely followed by a red jeep, honk and wave.
Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I'll weigh in again on the lists suggestion. You might even want to have a trip planning notebook that you can carry in your purse and update as you think of things. You might have a page for each child and a page for you and Wes.
When it comes down to packing, have everyone packed the previous day so you can go over the kid's bags and make sure they've got everything on the list. If yours is already done the day before and all you have to do is throw your toiletries in, that'll be a weight off your mind. Start your vacation-clothes laundry at least 5 days before, so you don't have to rush to wash last minute items.
I don't know if it will be close to bed time or what when you get where you are going, but I've always found it helpful to have a pair of underwear, jammies and toothbrush and toothpaste packed on top of everything else. That way when you get where you're going, bedtime can be immediate and you don't have to unpack everything to get to the stuff you need.
Put everyone's formal stuff in the same bag that won't be unpacked until they're needed.
In the car, each child should have their own activity bag with their own stuff in it that they are responsible for. You might want to pack a few surprises in your bag to bring out when they are bored with what they brought.
In the final hours before leaving the house, make a group effort to straighten up, make beds, finish not-vacation-clothes laundry, clean the kitchen (including the fridge, throwing out stuff that will go bad before you return), and vacuum. It will seem like an extraneous unnecessary thing, but when you come back from vacation, tired from travelling, the last thing you'll want to do is clean house. But don't do all this yourself. The kids should do the bulk of it. You're busy organizing the trip.
In your purse, make sure you have some bandaids, tissues, Tylenol, a small pair of scissors, a peanut butter sandwich or trailmix, a calculator, and a magnifying glass. (This, btw, is my mother's list when we travel, and darned if we don't end up using everything on it, and wishing we had it if we didn't bring it.)
I"m excited for you! One of my favorite parts of vacation is the planning.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Oh, and have a shoebox or bag where everyone should put the stuff-- hairbrush, toothbrush, whatever-- that can't be packed until the last minute because it needs to be used. Put those things in at least three days before, only to be taken out when in use and put back immediately afterwards. That way there's no last-minute rush or losing them or forgetting them; just grab the box on the way out and deal with them in the car. Also handy for in hotels and motels, where you don't want to lose those things and they're the things you use every night/morning.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Live out of the suitcases the week before. Pack everyone's suitcase a couple weeks before you go and play the we are on vacation game where you have everyone just use what is in their suitcases. That way what they still need can be added while you are still at home!
And yes lists are your best friend!
Posts: 224 | Registered: Jan 2001
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quote: I"m excited for you! One of my favorite parts of vacation is the planning.
You are a sick, sick person.
Lists are great. I used them for all my long trips as a kid, and have begun using them again as an adult because I now have to worry about the TWO of us packing meds and other important, non-replacable stuff.
DC is windy this time of year, although not as bad as in the fall. Take warm clothes.
I also recommend taking a small bag for everyone to use ON the trip itself, so you don't have to haul all the luggage in and out of hotels. Make sure the toiletry stuff is in a bag as well, as well as any meds or important stuff (contact stuff, etc.). I usually just make ONE toiletry bag for us both, and carry that into the hotel, as well as having everyone have a duffel for themselves with clothes and all.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Warm clothes for the beginning of July in DC?? Egad. I'm 12 miles from DC, and I say: don't do it!
Posts: 628 | Registered: Nov 1999
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I'm not planning on taking many warm clothes, I was in DC in September and it was hot, I can't imagine it won't be hot in July.
One more obstacle down - got reservations for the dogs to be boarded at the vet. because they can stay in the same "cell" (I guess that's what you'd call it - it's bigger than a cage, certainly) the second dog is only half price. They will exercise them daily and bathe and dip them. Dr. Scott promised me he'd take good care of my girls. It's a small vet's office and I absolutely love everyone there, they've been wonderful with everything we've needed so far, so I feel good about it.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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One thing my mom used to do was to make a list (with pictures for when we were too small to read) of all the clothes and other itmes we needed to pack. Us kids would then be responsible for packing our own clothes, making sure to check off each item as we got enough of it in our bag.
The result was that we had enough clothes for all our needs, and there was no whining about what to wear, since we had picked it out ourselves.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I was thinking it was earlier in the year than this, sorry.
I live in FL now, and it was 98 degrees the past few days, so it makes remembering what the weather is like up there hard sometimes. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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