Sages counsel couples to discuss big topics before marriage: children, money, chores.
One topic is never discussed.
How to pack for a move.
I noticed this appalling oversight because we’re moving. The truck arrives in three days.
The tortoise beats the hare when packing, so we started months ago. A box or three a day prevents exhaustion.
But the tortoise approach means we’ve had months to critique packing styles. And they don’t match.
We don’t match.
My wife packs boxes where every item is related, usually by room. Using a Sharpie, she then writes the contents on the outside of each box as if making a grocery list for a family of 10.
I forage across rooms to find items that fit together, Tetris-like. Then, with Sharpie, I scribble a box’s one or two main items and add “Potpourri.”
I fill boxes faster, clearly the smarter approach. Plus, my boxes will be like gifts when opened – filled with surprises.
Yet She Who Packs Differently remains unmoved. She says my front-end “efficiency” will cause back-end mess.
Can this marriage be saved?
Your marriage will be saved only if *you* unpack the boxes you packed. Good luck with that.
I’m with your wife, Jeff. I not only list everything on two sides of the box, I use specifically color-coded box numbers and where the box will be going. I also keep a binder with the box numbers, contents, where it will be going in color-coded tabs. She’s right: it makes it so much easer on the end side.
Sounds like the two of you are dancing the Box Trot.
I tend to support Liz’s organization process.
With careful organization and labeling, boxes can then be deposited logistically akin to their final resting place.
An mixed box, as it were, might wind up in the garage until, well, Boxing Day (Dec. 26, FYI).
Happy moving.
Where u going?
Steve, we’re returning to Greensboro, North Carolina.