(Above: A special Christmas Eve photo of Ruby with her Uncle Andy (Momma's first cousin), her Auntie Kris and her cousins Jennifer (left) and Stephanie (right)- for those of you who miss the 'BOW PICS' hehehe ENJOY!)
Yes, the old saying IS true, hindsight is most definately 20/20. If I only knew then what I know now... I suppose if I had it all to do over I'd have two lists that I followed RELIGIOUSLY before my trip. One of MUST HAVE'S and one of DON'T BOTHER'S cuz truly, for as many times as I packed & un packed & re packed etc, I STILL brought far too much CRAP that I didn't look twice at & the things that ended up being most important to me, I ran out of first... so, that said, here's a little insight into what I would've liked to have known prior to my trip. For those of you about to travel or still months away, remember this is MY list of what I wish I would've known, it's very specific to MY China experience... it may not necessarily mirror what someone else will experience but I hope it helps some of you in some way, small though it may be. =)
MUST HAVE'S
1. Quaker Instant Oatmeal Packets
BUNCHES OF THEM! I only brought one box worth & trust me, Ruby ate that stuff every morning RELIGIOUSLY and I ran out of them before the trip was over & that was TOUGH! Also, even before Ruby & I met, My friend Ronayne and I ate them sometimes for dinner if we didn't feel like going out. Remember that EVERY HOTEL IN CHINA PROVIDES EACH ROOM IT'S OWN HOT POT! You're going to LEARN TO LOVE YOURS!!! I PROMISE YOU!!!
2. Robeez's shoes in size 12-18 mo. and 18-24 mo.
For all the cute pairs of shoes in the world that I bought & brought with me, no pair would ever prove to be MORE VALUABLE to both Me AND RUBY than the Robeez's !!! These shoes are GREAT for kids who still have yet to learn how to walk or have just started walking or are toddlers who can cruize the hallways of hotels with the best of them! When children are learning to walk they NEED to be able to feel the floor under their feet, it helps them gain balance & control. All of the 'cute had to have them' pairs of shoes I brought were useless in helping Ruby learn to crawl, nevermind walk... (she was barely crawling when I first met her, she merely dragged her lower torso along by her arms, the army under the barbed wire crawl' type deal) so I quickly realized what a foolish waste of money all those shoes were & wished I had a pair or two of Robeez's with me! Two sizes because I didn't know what size Ruby needed & honestly, if one was too small & she could only wear the bigger ones I'd have GLADLY given the smaller pair to someone who needed them without hesitation!
3. Amoxicillin: I didn't think to bring any of that & thank GAWD one of the women in my travel group had the brains to bring some JUST IN CASE! When I got Ruby she had a very bad cold & a fever of 102 & was teething like you READ about & aside from the basics that I'd brought (tylenol, benadryl, robitussin etc) there wasn't a damn thing I could do to help her further WITHOUT AMOXICILLIN! Once I was able to use some of Erma's meds for Ruby, her fever was gone & within days she was a BRAND NEW KID!
4. Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches: Again, here's something that I thought I'd only need one package of, BOY WAS I WRONG! Ruby LOVED THOSE TOO, and originally I had brought them as a snack for myself & Ronayne but turns out my girl was into the peanut butter just like Momma so I wish I had brought more of those, at LEAST two or three 6 packs if not MORE!
5. ALEVE: I brought only one small bottle with me & although that may have been enough for just me & my friend , once the group knows who has what, if they've forgotten it & need some they know who to go to & I'm not one to turn anyone away in need, thus, I ran out of my Aleve SUPER FAST and was left with none for the trip home. MS on a 30 hour trip home WITHOUT the aid of ALEVE is NOT PRETTY PEOPLE! ugh
6. Bonine Chewable Tablets for MOTION SICKNESS: These puppies were my SAVING GRACE since I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLYYYYY hate to FLY! I only bought ONE PACKAGE ( WHAT WAS I THINKING?@$#$%^$%^) of those bad boys & they come only SIX IN A PACK! I really should've bought AT LEAST THREE IF NOT MORE because not only did I take them but my travel mate did as well & so did some people from my travel GROUP asked for some! I guess I double as a pharmacist when traveling! LOL I really wish I'd had more, bottom line... it's better to come home with some I didn't need, than to NEED SOME I DIDN'T HAVE! *sigh*
7. MINI MAGNA DOODLE: Yep, all the crap I brought for Ruby, the one thing she really loved (aside from Bear, obviously...) was a Mini Magna Doodle that her friend Wynn had & was always drawing with. I didn't think to bring one! 15 YEARS OF NANNYING PUT TO THE TEST & I FORGOT A MAGNA DOODLE? WHERE WAS MY MIND!
8.Sassy Lively Links!!!These things ROCK & can not only attach to ANYTHING, YOUR BELT LOOP, YOUR CARRIAGE, WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR BRAIN AFTER ALL THE PAPERWORK IS SAID & DONE but THEY CAN ALSO ATTACH TO THAT MINI MAGNA DOODLE THAT I SHOULD'VE BROUGHT! Man oh Man... I know now that China zapped brain right OUTTA MY HEAD upon entering the country, IT'S THE ONLY EXPLINATION! I brought three sets of these, only used one for me & gave the other two away, which I was happy to do, but I really should've brought MORE because they're cheap & everyone needs them & I was wishing I had more for the flight home. One set to keep bear from falling on the nasty airplane floor & another for her to PLAY WITH! ... LOL
9. One Soft Crib Blanket: I did manage to bring Ruby her very own 'RED BLANKET' just like the book The Red Blanket..., and I was SO HAPPY I DID because she snuggled with that thing every night in her crib! It was far softer than the linens they had provided me for her to sleep on & I wanted her to feel cozy & safe & warm and that blanket did the trick! I believe my mother got it at Old Navy, just a regular old red fleece blanket, KEY ITEM TO HAVE!!!
and finally, last but not least...
10. GERBER FRUIT & VEGGIE PUFFS!!!!
When I tell you that I literally BOUGHT TONS OF THESE & GAVE THEM TO RUBY EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL & SHARED THEM WITH EVERY OTHER BABY IN OUR TRAVEL GROUP I'M NOT KIDDING! And even with all that I brought (six containers of them) I STILL COULD'VE USED MORE! Everyone brings Cheerios and I'm not knocking them by any means, but again, as a Veteran Nanny with 15+ years experience, Cheerios, although delicious & easy first finger foods for toddlers still pose a slight choking hazzard since they don't disintergrate upon hitting the tongue, like these Gerber puffs do! They feel solid, they 'crunch' solid but DISSAPPEAR IN AN INSTANT! And for those of you who get referred babies without any teeth yet, these are going to be a GODSEND! Trust me!!! And for the record, ALL of the babies over there who we shared with preferred the Banana ones and the Sweet Potato ones to any other kind I brought. =)
Ok, now for the list I like to call the:
DON'T BOTHER'S:
1. Excess clothing for ME! I didn't need HALF OF WHAT I BROUGHT! Seriously, when they say 'when you're done packing, open up your suitcase & take half of it back out & leave it home" they're NOT KIDDING! I could've gotten away with just TWO pairs of Jeans, one pair of shorts & 3 or 4 T shirts & a hooded sweatshirt for a 'jacket' type thing. MAN DID I OVER PACK! WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT HAULING THAT STUFF AROUND CHINA UNNECESSARILY!
2. Excess Bathroom stuff for me: Ok, here's the deal, EVERY hotel gave us NEW EVERY MORNING each a toothbrush, a small tube of tooth paste & creams etc... I could've gotten away with just the shampoo & conditioner I brought & the one bar of soap with my razor. THAT'S IT! What the hell did I think I was going to anyway? A Beauty Contest? LOL I didn't need HALF THAT STUFF I BROUGHT & I won't bore you with the details of the things I packed, I didn't need them, period, amen.
3. Makeup: Again, what was I THINKING?
4. Multiple Books to read: Ok, ONE good book for reading while in flight is a nice idea, but ONE. When did I seriously think I was going to have all this time to read all these books ( which weren't light by the way) once I was united with Ruby? You know, for a veteran Nanny I sure was an IDIOT!
5. Too many outfits for Ruby: Clothing is SO CHEAP IN CHINA and JUST AS CUTE! Don't bog your luggage down with a DOZENS OF OUTFITS like I did & then end up not being able to use ANY OF THEM because they didn't end up FITTING HER! Until you see your child, unless you're ok with buying everything 24mo. & up, don't waste your money because honestly you could be spending alot of it on stuff your child will never have the pleasure of wearing. Onsies are ok & pj's are a must obviously but anything further than that you can find THERE! Guangzhou's Shamian Island IS AMAZING and trust me when I tell you that you'll BUY SO MANY THINGS FOR YOUR CHILD THERE & NOT EVEN PUT A DENT IN YOUR SPENDING MONEY IT'S UNBELIEVABLE! Go nuts Mothers, it's a SHOPPERS PARADISE SO INDULGE!!
6. FAR TOO MANY PAIRS OF UNDERWEAR! I know this is going to sound ridiculous but trust me, everyone, regardless of who you are, can get by with ONLY five pairs TOPS! You can HAND WASH THEM every night in the hotel bathroom sink & most hotels have a little clothes line right inside the shower area so they can dry overnight! Again, we're back to the OVERPACKING part of this tour, JUST SAY NO! ;)
7. FORMULA: I brought enough formula with me from the states to feed an entire Haitian family for a MONTH! What the HECK IS WRONG WITH ME! Wait WAIT WAIT till you get to china & find out if your child will even DRINK the formula? Some didn't, I know Ruby didn't TOUCH it! She did, however, drink Gerber Liqui Lytes packets, at least a few of them so bring a couple of those and hold off on the formula until you get to china. Even if babies ARE drinking formula, chances are that they're used to CHINESE formula, which is NOTHING like American formula so you're really just saving yourself money & WEIGHT IN THE LUGGAGE, HAVE YOU ALL PICKED UP A POUND CONTAINER OF FORMULA LATELY? Put one in each hand & do some lifts , YOU WON'T NEED TO GO TO THE GYM! OUCH!
8. DIAPERS: NO WAY DID I NEED AS MANY DIAPERS AS I BROUGHT WITH ME! For the two weeks I was there I could've done with just 50 diapers instead of the 200 or so I brought. Could someone look up idiot in the dictionary? I'm guessing they'll need an updated picture of me for the entry!
9. Wipes: Again, I could've gotten away with one container of wipes & just two refill packs. I won't tell you how many I brought but let's just say that I shared with nearly every family in my travel group. (did someone call Webster's yet?)
and finally
10. SIPPY CUPS!!! I brought two each of several different brands thinking that if she didn't like one, she's sure to like another etc... NOT SO MUCH! Trust me, just bring ONE kind, the kind you like & bring two of them. One to use & get dirty & the other as the clean back up one when you're sterilizing the dirty one, etc. Kids are resiliant... they'll use what you bring & like it. I was the one who was so anal & fussy about stuff, not Ruby. She now LOVES the Avent Sippies & we're both very happy. LOL
Well, there you have it, my insight into what I wish I knew before I traveled... any questions? Feel free to comment! =)
-Amy & one very sleepy napping Ruby Cate
