Of spatial relationships and gender

We are on vacation for the week. But as you know, to go on vacation, you first have to pack what seems like everything you own. The week before we left, all I heard from Jen was that she didn't know how we were going to fit everything in our car. With Keegan, going on vacation requires bringing so much more stuff. There's the stroller -- not the one that folds up like an umbrella, either -- the jogging stroller that does collapse but only as small as an end table. There's the booster seat in lieu of the high chair. There's the pack-n-play which conveniently doubled as a stand for the portable DVD player which was enlisted around Dothan, Alabama in our quest for 20 minutes of solitude. But before we left, Jen didn't think that all of these things would fit in the car, despite my assurances. In the end, I capitulated and made the trip to Target in search of one of those top-of-the-car luggage carriers. Jen said some friends of ours bought one recently, and it worked very well on their trip. I was skeptical. I was envisioning one of those Griswoldian tumors on the top of the car.

So Saturday morning, I commenced with the packing of the car. Now generally, I don't subscribe to stereotypes, and I didn't conduct a scientific study. But anecdotally, I found some support for the notion that men do better with spatial relationships because I was able to pack everything in the car without having to put anything on top of the car.

We are down on the panhandle of Florida staying at a nice place on the water. Keegan's first trip to the beach in the warm weather. I'll have to tell you more about that tomorrow.