black op failure, jr edition

Each kid has a small carry-on suitcase, the kind on wheels. Whenever we go on vacation, they pack their suitcases with their own toys. Each has his own toybox, so to speak. DD has been packing and re-packing her suitcase all week. This morning, I got the boys' suitcases down from their closet shelf, and they quickly packed theirs up. The three packed little suitcases sat on the upstairs landing all day.

We went to our usual Mass this evening, and then out for dinner at Chili's. Once home, we got them all bathed and into pj's, and then they played while I finished puttering around and packing, including bringing those little suitcases downstairs. We put them to bed a little past 8:30PM; it's going to be a bit of an early start tomorrow, and it will be a long day.

8:55PM, I hear giggling upstairs. I was straightening out the game shelves in the kitchen when DD pops downstairs with this: Mom, can you tighten the cap on my water bottle? It's leaking! I took a drink and it leaked on my toes! (We keep their water bottles out in the hallway, part of a routine that will make them think about whether or not they need to use the bathroom -- and also minimizes the amount of water spilled into their beds.)

So I tighten the cap off the water bottle, and dried it off for good measure, when I hear DS1 giggling, and I know something's up.

OK, you guys, what's going on?

DD caves immediately: (DS1) is bringing the suitcases upstairs so we can put more toys in them... I look in the living room and see that, indeed, DS1's suitcase is no longer downstairs with the others.

Well, there was no point in getting angry about it. They're too excited to sleep, so: OK, you've got five minutes, get down here and do what you need to do...

The two boys come running downstairs with various "animal friends", which get stuffed into the nearly-full suitcases, and then I chase them back upstairs to bed.

DH and I both admired the slickness of the operation, with DD providing the cover with the water bottle story. They probably would've pulled it off if DS1 hadn't been so giggly. As Kim Possible said, Being quiet is an important part of being sneaky.