The Packing Game
When my kids were babies, I always pictured our playroom looking like a preschool room, with bins of toys neatly stacked and sorted. Yet it didn’t take me long to learn that this is not how my kids use their toys. Instead, they mix and match and jumble them together as they spend hours lost in dramatic play.
And yet lately my youngest has developed a new game that is not just messing up the playroom, but our entire house. The game? Packing.
Ever since winter break, she has become obsessed with the idea of packing her suitcase for vacation. At first, I found it cute so I let her do it. Then, when her clothing all ended up in a heap, I used it as an opportunity to weed out the clothes that had gotten too small. I even filled the bottom drawer of her dresser with her summer clothing and told her it was her “packing drawer.”
Then I let her pack away, certain enthusiasm for the game would burn out soon.
Except weeks later, it hasn’t. Nor has she limited herself to the packing drawer. In fact, she’s no longer even packing just her own clothes. I first noticed this weekend when I needed pants for my son. I opened his drawer and much to my surprise, it was empty. My son was shocked. So I asked my youngest, who led me to a suitcase.
“I packed his stuff in here.”
After retrieving his pants, I told her no more packing clothes. I assumed she’d pack toys. She decided to focus on household items. Notable objects that have recently gone missing include my iPhone, found in the bottom of a basket, and the TV remote control, which we found shoved in a suitcase after a futile search led us to activate the Bluetooth alarm we glued to it after losing the last one.
This morning the game struck again when I had to open two backpacks to find her an outfit for school, and then a pair of socks. Which means this afternoon there’s going to be another conversation. This time I’m sending her back to the playroom where she can pack all the pretend food and doll clothing she wants. Just as long as she doesn’t touch my iPhone.