Packing and Leaving
May 4, 2008|
I think my husband is the bee's knees, and there are very few things he does that bug me. But one of them is his packing habits. Anytime he deploys or goes out in the field, he has a terrible habit of waiting until the last minute to pack. And then he fusses, cusses, and sweats. He gets mad at the sea of green in the living room and turns into a real bear. And even though he too hates that he does this to himself, he never seems to change the behavior.
The man honestly packed for 13 months in Iraq the night before.
That does not make for a romantic send-off.
So this time, I swore that I was going to get that man to pack early. I started coaxing weeks ago, that he should start piling things in the living room and getting situated. I bought him all his toiletries a month ago so we wouldn't have to run to the store. I thought we'd spend this weekend packing and then have all this time before he deploys to just relax and be in love.
This time, I swear it's not his fault.
His departure date keeps creeping forward -- once more even since I posted on Friday -- to the point that now he's packing at the last minute anyway. All of our romantic leisure time has disappeared.
And that leaves us only with packing and leaving. Again.
That's normal. honest. at least with mine. He did sorta stack things in the basement before deployment only because we needed to find stuff. before the last tdy - no not somuch. running around.... and he forgot a few things, but at least that was only for 2 weeks.
LAW
Posted by: liberal army wife | 05/04/2008 at 15:03
It happens everywhere with emphasis being at Chateau L. He always packs the night before. Drill weekends, AT, Iraq. Always. He leaves this week for AT. Has he started? Sure. With my urging, he washed his t-shirts for his ACUs and WORE THEM TO WORK. *sigh* It's the Y chromosome. I know it is. It smacks away all that is good and reasonable.
I'd say, order pizza and interrupt the packing. Ship him the socks if he misses a pair. Take a little one on one time.
Check me out towards the end of the year to see if I've taken my own advice :)
Lots of good wishes headed your way, sister.
Posted by: Susan | 05/04/2008 at 15:23
I don't think Hubby has ever packed in advance. No matter where he has gone it is always the night before. I can't stand it and I am glad he does. That just means that I do not have to have another reminder that he is leaving. On the other hand, it sucks because that he is a bear and mean.
Posted by: Reasa | 05/04/2008 at 16:18
I'm with Susan. It's the Y chromosome taking over. My husband left an entire bonus room used for storage to clean out the night before, in addition to packing.
The room had YEARS worth of stuff accumulated over multiple deployments with no sense of organization, various gear not going with him, paperwork from 2003 ... you get the picture. You couldn't easily walk through the room. I spent our last night together watching him go through all of this. No sleep. He said he wanted to stay up all night so he'd sleep on the plane and neglected to think about his new marital status. Oops. I think I'm still mad at him for that one!
I'll be thinking of you, Sarah. I hope you can find a few moments to enjoy one another.
Posted by: Stephanie | 05/04/2008 at 17:36
My husband packed for Iraq the morning of - as in....4 hours before we got into the car to drive to base. Since I knew before hand this is what would happen, it was actually really nice - we were able to almost ignore the deployment. Figured as long as he has the important stuff, he can buy the little stuff he forgot (toiletries, extra socks, etc.).
Posted by: christine | 05/04/2008 at 18:17
OH my gosh, I mine too! He will wait and pack the morning he leaves. Just left for overseas for 8 days of TDY/AT and granted we just got back at 2:30 AM from TDY in San Diego, but I suggested lets pack real quick then you can sleep until we need to leave, nope, had to wait and only get 4 hours sleep and pack. God love them. Here I thought it was just my dh/army thing, glad to know it afflicts all of us! LOL
Posted by: ArmyReserveWife | 05/04/2008 at 19:29
Argh. I wish Scout was like your husband in this respect! He spends a minimum of two weeks obsessing about all of the stuff he needs to pack - and it always seems to be when a really good show is on (which we typically watch together). And the two weeks are filled with, "Babe, have you seen my ________?" And I tell him, "Yeah, I'm sure it's it's under one of the 16 piles of TA-50 in the garage!"
And when he gets sick of looking for something, he just buys a new one. I could have screamed when I found out that he recently bought his eighth PT belt since we've been married - I'm determined to find the other seven that are buried in the garage.
Posted by: Erin | 05/04/2008 at 21:17
Haha, that's exactly what *I* do whenever I have to pack for anything!
So I guess if my fiancé ends up having the same habit, I can't get too mad at him ...
Posted by: TomboyWarrior | 05/05/2008 at 02:24
How is it possible that I ended up with a husband who does the complete opposite of all of you? Mine takes over a spare bedroom at least a month in advance and starts piling things on the bed and around the room that he needs to pack. Good for him that he seems so organized, but bad for me since I am reminded of his impending deployment every time I walk past the room...which can be 20 times a day! And even with his organization, he still ends up repacking the day, night, morning before he actually leaves so he can consolidate even more.
Posted by: Jewel | 05/05/2008 at 08:20
My husband is just like Jewels on this one. At least a month before he deployed he basically took over our living room with all his "stuff". It was ridiculous, and drove me crazy. And, we still ended up staying up all night, me watching and him packing and repacking (ya know, so he could fit in the extra PS2 games, etc). I on the other hand packed for college in 3 hours. Yup, we are a match made in heaven, lol.
Posted by: sweetestsass | 05/05/2008 at 13:40
My DH finalized his packing the morning he left for Korea. It was that last minute "let's see if this can fit in my backpack" routine. He was grumbling if I mentioned something else and wanted to leave a bunch of things at home. Meanwhile, I get stuck with the pile of crap at home that he didn't sort through as he was selecting which items to take with him.
Posted by: Erin | 05/05/2008 at 15:56
My hubby is definitely the last minute packer... every single time.
And it IS always in the middle of a good show! Silly boys.
But we love them!
Posted by: Elisa | 05/05/2008 at 15:59
LOL yeah thats normal. mine will pack, dump, re-pack. leave it for a few days. dump, re-pack again... rinse & repeat until the day he actually leaves.
Posted by: dizzylizzie | 05/06/2008 at 08:19
My DH will wait till I do it for him lol. If I don't he will be up till all hours of the morning packing. Packing and waking me as I doze off asking do you know where...? I usually just have him give me a list asap, will pack him, then we can spend time together... yea as he checks and remembers things he forgot to tell me! lol
Posted by: tad's tibbit | 05/09/2008 at 17:52
OMG When my DH was packing for Germany, he took over our bedroom. He couldn't his Beret, his wallet or his ACU pants.
He woke up the morning of, and needed to shave his head and face still. I found all of his shit and put it in a pile and went back to bed. The look on his face when he walked back in was PRICELESS.
Posted by: Galeforcewynd | 05/09/2008 at 18:02