A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my husband and I broke out the RV for the first time this year. One of the tasks that has to be done before taking the RV out is to pack the cupboards with staples that will survive all summer. I like to include dry pasta, canned goods like baked beans and tuna, and snacks.
When my husband thinks of packing the RV for the summer, he always asks if I bought Pop Tarts. He has his priorities straight for those times when we drag ourselves back to the RV and he’s so hungry, he needs a snack before he cooks dinner. Oh wait, I’m the only one who makes dinner.
We haven’t taken our daughters camping with us much these last couple years. They’re either working or in college these days. So when I pack the RV, I’m very aware they need to have food available in the house to fend for themselves while we’re gone. I know they are capable of feeding themselves, but I don’t like to wipe out their choices by packing them into the RV.
I don’t want anyone to think I’m fooled into thinking that I they’ll cook themselves real food. No, I know they’ll only eat mac and cheese, lunchmeat and bread. They won’t starve, but I used our absence to test their problem solving skills.
The other staple I buy besides Pop Tarts is s’more makings. Hershey’s chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers. My husband loves s’mores, except for the marshmallows and graham crackers (see what I did there?), and I enjoy a roasted marshmallow now and then. But I like to have everything available in the RV, because you never know when a s’more emergency might strike, like warding off raccoons or bears. A woman should really be prepared for these things.
I happened upon a great deal on Hershey’s before we left and picked up an extra pack. I can’t exactly store chocolate bars in the RV all summer, since we don’t keep the fridge running on cool when we’re not using it, so I left the extras for my daughters.
To add further obstacles for them to negotiate, I left a box of strawberry Pop Tarts and a bag of marshmallows to see how long it would take them to find the items. I figured they’d come across them and assume we left the supplies for them and consume them immediately. But I wasn’t sure how they would respond, if they’d be able to figure out the treats were for them.
About four days into our trip, a feeble text manage to break through, “were you saving the s’more stuff for another trip or for us.” I was off the grid and it was only by chance I received her text. So I was unable to send her an answer.
I laughed to myself, “Four whole days? Wow, they’re really slipping.”
When we went into town the next day, I posted and tagged my kids on Facebook that they weren’t very observant, because I left them s’more stuff and it took four days for them to find it. My youngest responded and said she found everything at once, but didn’t ask about the chocolate and marshmallows until after they’d consumed the Pop Tarts.
There’s a part of me that is bursting with pride. Not only that they found the treats, but they knew we would never leave Pop Tarts in the house unless we intended them to be eaten. However, I don’t think their problem solving skills are quite up to par. They should know we would never leave chocolate unattended if we didn’t mean for it to be eaten.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh,” or twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Life section.
