Guess what? I’m going camping with my school this week! Four days of no homework, no pesky younger brother, no being reminded to do my homework, no pesky brother, no being yelled at for not doing homework… did I mention the no pesky brother bit?
I am so excited! Appa got me this awesome rucksack, water canteen (let’s not be uncool and call it a water bottle, ok?) and a wind-up torch that doesn’t need batteries. Now, all I have to do is pack for the trip. You’d think that would be the easy part, but it isn’t.
Lost but not found
Here are the things standing in the way of me having an awesome camping trip with my friends.
1.Remember that pesky brother I was telling you about before? He’s being pesky again. He keeps hiding my new rucksack, so I can’t pack. Amma thinks it’s cute and keeps saying “Awwww. Look. He’s sad you’re going away.” Ummm… NO he isn’t. He’s jealous I’m going to be having fun with my friends while he’s stuck at school.
2. Amma’s doesn’t have a clue about what to pack for a camping trip. Ok, she has the check-list that the school sent her, but she keeps packing the wrong kind of stuff. That sweatshirt with the monkey swinging on a branch that says ‘Let’s Hang Out’ is cute at home but so lame everywhere else. And every time I take it out of the rucksack, it secretly reappears five minutes later.
3. Do I really need six pairs of underwear? Two seems like one pair too many, but Amma seems to think otherwise.
4. I had to fold and pack my clothes because I’m ‘old enough’ (but not old enough to decide I’m too old to wear a monkey sweatshirt). After an inspection, Amma refolded everything again herself. a) Thanks for the vote of confidence, Amma. b) Can’t we just roll everything into a ball and put it into the rucksack? It’s not like my clothes are going to stay in those neat triangles you’re making with them.
5. Labelling mania. Amma is convinced I am going to come back with an empty rucksack because I lose stuff. I know I don’t have a great track record when it comes to hanging on to my stuff, but just because I’ve already lost two school jackets, a water bottle — I mean water canteen — and my school diary this year, doesn’t mean I’m going to keep losing things. Amma has written my name, class and section on everything I own. Even my underwear! This is so embarrassing. If she could, she’d tattoo my name on my forehead.
So finally, we finish fighting, packing and making up. You’d think that was the end of it, right? But no. I leave the room for five minutes and come back to discover everything — EVERYTHING — I’d packed out on the floor and my brother trying to get inside the rucksack.
This trip cannot start soon enough.
