Day: June 19, 2005

this is the plan

packing is going well. one small suitcase for the girls, one small suitcase for the boys. i have taped a list to the outside of each suitcase with a list of last minute items that will need to be placed in the cases the day we leave.

i have started packing meals. formula amounts inserted into the formula disc, weetabix for three, sebastian’s bran flakes, goldfish, teddy bears…all ready to go. bottles, sippy cups, utensils. and a list on the fridge of last minute items.

paperwork: copies of everyone’s birth certificates, passports, medical histories, next of kin, contacts, donor organ cards, notarised permission forms stating my parents have the right to travel with any of the triplets and to make medical decisions for them.

good point to those of you who commented about id papers for kids: sebastian has an incredibles wallet that we tied a long shoelace into, it hangs around his neck making my little man resemble an underage rapper. inside is his name, flight, flight time and our business cards, and money to call us in case the person doesn’t have a mobile phone.

tonight we are doing the phenergan trial run and that stuff really is the sword of damocles. jasper threw up all over himself and didn’t wake up. poor little man.

sela displayed a new trick today: when thwarted combined with tired, she throws herself down on the ground. typical limp limbs and wailing. i tried to give her sackcloth and ashes but she said the colour didn’t suit her complexion. this is a tantrum, right? when she did it, lita and i warned her to be careful of hurting her head, and then got up and walked out of the room. one minute later she was crawling towards us somewhat happier but still six o clock hurngry and tired tenuous.

carys. she’s happier. she had this nasty cough that half of hong kong (hong?) seems to be sporting. for the past couple of days there has been a lot of misery. but she is okay lah.

sorry mum, sebastian got a hair cut tonight and looks sweet.

and sorry, pam, tomorrow i am going to stanley to do some last minute shopping and to buy a new suitcase.

AND – happy father’s day magnificent. thank you kara for the poem, it was used in our sunday school presents to dad. i also gave him a cute t-shirt, a massage, dinner, and a few other items.

AND – last night i stayed up all night mainly because jasper was coughing…and in between sessions i managed to complete the rough draft of my second story. each story needs about 90 minutes of tweaking, but overall, i am a happy girl. this will be good.

time is running out, but we are so ready for this.

xo tess

sebastian put his budding artist skills to work today on the sofa covers. if you remember, about six months ago i replaced our sofa covers that had been vomitted on so many times that no matter how often they were washed, i couldn’t get the smell out or the pieces of upchuck out of the zipper.

he released his inner picasso all over the sofa covers with a blue ball point pen. i noticed the scribbling late in the afternoon and asked him about it. i asked him why, and he told me that someone had told him to. fair enough, i will discipline both of you, i informed sebastian and his invisible patron. at that point sebastian admitted no one had told him to. (surprise).

i told him i was proud of him for not lying, but it was time for discipline, because what he did was wrong. after a party, being denied dessert was not effective, so i got creative. he told me as he was going to bed that he wouldnt’ scribble on the sofa again, and i do believe him.

the triumverate all have these loose chesty coughs; and what concerns me most has little to do with what you might expect, you know, their already tenuous health, getting on a plane in a few days…no, i am concerned with the vomit. just hate that stuff.

you wouldn’t believe the packing that’s going on here. i have already packed carys, sela and jasper’s shared suitcase, and have shirts, shorts and pants left for sebastian. that is pretty easy, he wants to wear his incredibles costume on the plane and he has two spiderman costumes that he will wear out this summer. oh this is a good time. he wears a wife beater and bob’s to bed, so really, he is an easy packer.

magnificent has deemed (and he is good at stuff like this so i agree with him), that we need to fill one suitcase with three days worth of clothes for everyone, nappies, wipes, food, and this is the suitcase we will live out of until we reach our first destination. an excellent plan.

my carry on has been designated as THE distributor carry on. it contains three bags: one blue, one red, one purple. inside are five nappies, wipes, hand sanitiser, and a change of clothes. my bag also contains food for the plane. as well as extra nappies, but those are in a separate bag than the three coloured ones and will only be distributed as needed. there is a bag of medicine: phenergan, benadryl, teething gel, my anticonvulsants, cough medicine, augmentin and tylenol. my bag also contains the four kids enteratinment bags:

portable dvd, videos, colouring books, books, plastic jungle creatures, an etch a sketch, a notebook, markers (gee, now all we need is a sofa!) stickers, basically one new activity every hour.

and snacks for sebastian, i gave up expecting him to eat healthily on the flight a long time ago. goldfish, chocolate bears, apple juice, yakult, cheese and crackers, banana, sliced apple. for the babies i don’t really offer snacks, because the last thing i want is them to vomit unnecessarily. they will get their pureed moosh and fromage frais and they will enjoy it.

i would love to sneak vanity fair in there if possible, because i cling to this foolish hope that i can actually read it.

i have also done something i consider to be brilliant: i have written down on one piece of paper all the kids passport numbers and expirations, so that when the time comes to fill out that foolish form, i don’t have to find and open and shut all the passports. one piece of paper, thank you very much.

in the suitcases, we have several categories:

medical supplies, children extras (blankets, bibs, jackets), oh yes, my clothes, charles’ clothes, bottles, bowls, utensils, i tell you, we are taking heaps of stuff. and i have to arrange it and it seems so daunting.

oh and the photocopying, oy! i have to have all three kids medical reports with me just in case. and their birth certificates.

we are going to have a massive amount of stuff with us. however, we are paying about $8,oooUS for these tickets, and i think that buys a certain amount of luggage, doesn’t it? if only it paid for peace of mind.