I’ve had my blankie since I was born.

I was brought home from the hospital with it.

I’ve slept with it every night minus the months I’ve gone traveling for extensive periods of time. And it never went away with me for a weekend or a week long trip (minus college where in some cases I had to take it with me to be protected from my roommates-you know who you are – Heather and Alison- who found it funny to “torture” blankie by hanging it outside and other bizarre things!).

But generally speaking, I’ve slept with it every night of my life.

It’s comforted me on the worst days of my life and relaxed me on the longest days. And all the days in between it just made me feel “good.”

Well blankie is gone. Vanished. Lost on our trip to San Diego…I’m heart broken. I’ve called every hotel we stayed. Justin’s Mom has searched her guest room countless times. I’m actually impressed at how understanding and thoughtful some of the hotels have been…even when I tell them, well, actually “it doesn’t really look like a blankie…it’s just some shreds of material…”

It’s been like losing someone close to you. I feel lost. I’m embarrassed to admit this but it is true.

My blankie held a ton of sentimental value to me. It wasn’t much more than a piece of tied together string (what was left of both my blankie and my mother’s blankie’s soft edges–I “inherited” my mother’s when she passed away five years ago–more on the shreds later)- Or better said by my good friend Katina when we were living together one college summer and it went missing after a big party…and I quote, “oh that, I thought it was something the cats drug in and threw it away.” Several hours later and after much digging in the apartment complex dumpster and trashbags, blankie was found and given a very good bath.

Blankie, to my knowledge only went missing one other time. It was several months after Justin and I had been dating. He used to think it was funny and would throw it around my room playing games at seeing what he could hit with it…ummm, not so understanding of my attachment. It went missing one day and I blamed him for months. It finally turned up when I moved out of my place. It had been wedged between my bed frame and the wall.

Now that it’s gone and after having to describe it to countless hotel staff, it got me thinking, why was blankie in shreds? Why was it merely a bunch of tied together edge pieces? What happened to the rest of it? Now that I’m a mother with a daughter who has a blankie and a “blankie attached little boy in training” I think I know why…my mother must have cut the blankie up so that if it went missing she had a spare bit to give me (I vividly remember stories being told of when I was 2 or so and had to have my tonsils removed and she got all the way to my grandmother’s to drop my brother off to be watched and then had to go all the way back home (45 mins) to get my blannkie). So eventually all the pieces must have gotten so worn out that she had to tie them together. I’m not sure about this theory but I’m guessing it’s a pretty good one.

So what does all this have to do with a blog about traveling with children? A lot.

You see when you travel (child or not) part of the excitement (or not) is being in an unknown place with unfamiliar tastes, sounds, sites, smells, etc. For an adult this can be very exhilarating (or unnerving for those who don’t like change or different things). For a 2 year old it can be quite disturbing. Bring a child’s blankie (or any “lovey” for that matter) along and that sense of comfort of home and familiarity is maintained. While we don’t let the children take their blankies out on everyday adventures (for fear of losing them), they are always with us on overnight trips anywhere.

Travel tip: if your child has a blankie or a lovey, don’t leave home without it if you are traveling. And I guess if you think it might get lost have a spare just in case. Or cut up the blankie into pieces so there’s several spares…

I’m fearful that blankie is in a landfill somewhere in California but hoping that maybe blankie will still turn up.

But for now R.I.P. BLANKIE, you will be missed…

I desperately try to pack light whenever we travel and try to only take what I think we will actually wear.  Which is usually still too much!  I often bring an outfit or 2 for myself and the children that I think we will wear if we have something nice to do, etc.  And we never wear the clothes.  Especially for the children it’s hard as they are blessed and have a very nice wardrobe of clothing that I feel is a shame not to bring along…

It doesn’t help that while Fall is my absolutely favorite time in VA and PA it is often the time of year you don’t know what to pack in regards to clothes…will it be warm (I’ve worn flip flops for Thanksgiving before) or will it be freezing (I’ve been so cold at Thanksgiving I couldn’t get warm even after a hot shower).  So we are bringing a bit of everything…

With airlines cracking down on baggage and even charging you for 1 checked bag it has become even more important to pack lightly…our “reward points” trip this time is going to end up costing us close to $325+ for the 4 of us to fly back East…mind you we redeemed 75,000 points for these seats too. Here’s how the $325 adds up…

$200+ for taxes/fees

$125 for checked baggage

Air Canada (our outward bound check-in desk) allows you to check one bag per passenger free as well as one car seat or stroller each (not including any you take on the plane with you).  So on the way out we’ll be fine.  We have 3 tickets (Stella being 2 she gets her own seat, but Sebby at 5 mos. will still be in my lap).  So we get 3 checked bags for free plus we can check 2 car seats for free.  We’ll be gate checking the double stroller and bringing 2 carry-on bags (backpack for Justin and a very large hand bag for me).

On the way back we check-in at United (Air Canada and United have merged).  However, United charges $25 for every item you check…That’s $125–3 bags plus 2 car seats X $25.

It’s not cheap flying a family of 4 anymore and we are pretty minimalist…

We contemplated not taking the car seats but since we’ll be gone for so long and driving a lot we figured the comfort and familiarity of the car seats would be better (not to mention “safer” though I challenge that assumption that a lot of parents make thinking rental car car seats are crap…if you use a reputable/international company you are going to get a decent car seat).  And from a purely financial point of view…car seat rental is $15/day to a max of $45 (for most car rental companies) – so that’s 2 X $45 which is $90 vs. $50 to bring them with us…Not a huge savings but it all starts adding up over time.

We’ve packed minimal toiletries (we can buy them once we arrive) and just enough wipes and diapers to get us there.   If we weren’t going for so long I wouldn’t have packed so many toys.  One small bag checked and a few for the plane.

So a bit of laundry to finish and several loads of things to take to our office for storing until we get back and we’ll be all packed.  Justin still has his clothes to do but it’s mostly done.  I hate leaving it all to the last minute (unlike my husband) as I like a good night’s sleep the night before and I HATE rushing around the morning of the flight.

So we are off at 8AM tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing all our friends and family back East.