Thursday, April 03, 2008

One step forward, two steps back.

Jacob never saw a box that he didn't unpack, remove the tape from, and completely destroy. This happens over and over. When ever we get a package in the mail we have to hide it, or the intended receiver will never see it. Jacob will sneak it off to his room and have it open and flattened before we realize it. We have not put out Christmas presents out for about 5 years now. We keep everything hidden away, with nothing under tree, until right before we are ready to open them or Jacob will not stop obsessing about them.



And it's not just cardboard boxes. If there is a plastic tote with a lid on it, you can bet it's going to be opened and upturned within moments of Jacob spotting it. We have had to become really good at hiding and disguising anything we don't want him to get into. He will pull chairs into the closet to get at a box from the top shelf. He has dumped more boxes and broken more contents than I care to think about.



Add to all this that fact that Jacob hates packing. If I have to pack for a trip, he freaks. He hates it when I am gone, and he knows what suitcases are all about, and he will unpack my stuff and put it away if he feels worried about me leaving. His sense of security is based on things being the same and predictable. So packing up to move is a major stress to him.

So preparing to move (in 18 days) is incredibly stressful. It is taking all my time and energy to pack, then hide or disguise all the boxes. We don't want to rent a storage unit, so I think we are going to end up moving without really packing much at all. Just transporting possessions from one house to the other in a weekend.

The good side of preparing to move is getting rid of all the stuff we really don't need. I have already taken four trips to Goodwill, and I anticipate many more. It feels kinda good purging things.

Forgive me for being scarce lately. Moving is taking all my time and draining me of creativity. Three weeks and I'll be back to my normal blogging self.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

WOW! I never even thought of that. This is going to be rough for Jacob. You are going to have a lot of extra stress on top of the move trying to help Jacob cope with the change.

My prayers are with you and your family. I know this move is an answer to countless prayers. I hope that things will go semi-smoothly for all of you. Especially Jacob.
You always handle things so well.