Miniature disasters

Well, you know something had to go wrong. The packers were here all day yesterday, working so hard, which was difficult with me flitting from room to room trying to be useful but really just getting in the way. By afternoon I had lost my ability to make an intelligent decision about anything. "Leave the cookware, definitely we need the UD chicken hat, pack that!"

So I walk into Sam's room - he is our youngest at age 4 - and his bed has been stripped. "Oh no," I say, "we need the sheets! We have 2 more nights before we leave." So the nice young guy from the movers very obligingly opens the packed box and takes out Sam's bedding. I am so relieved I don't check a thing and don't realize until the evening that his favorite stuffed toys which were wrapped up in his sheets have been packed. I can't blame anyone but myself. I think the young guy who packed them wouldn't have even thought to ask. So far I have been lucky and Sam has not asked for either of them yet.

But the real nailbiter is my son Michael's retainer. I think it has been shipped to Japan. I really, really hope it has been shipped to Japan. All I know is that it was in its case in the morning in its usual spot on his nightstand. In the evening I did my mom checklist: Face? Washed. Teeth? Brushed. Retainer? GONE. I just hope it didn't get sent into storage. A three year old retainer won't help anyone.

So we will have to wait until our shipment arrives in Tokyo. Until then, it's out of my hands. I used to obsess horribly about things like this, but I am really trying hard not to worry about the things I have no control over. My mother gave me a little self help book called Don't Sweat The Small Stuff With Your Family, and it's been very helpful to me. Of course, it's been packed, so I can't refer to it now!