I was doing SO well! I had a huge to-do list with multiple check boxes for each day. I re-homed a ton of items, arranged a long-distance move, kept the fam fed and at school/work single-handedly, and packed up the whole house.

I remembered EVERYTHING. Christmas gifts. The Husband’s parka just in case we hit snow in the mountains. Timers for the lights so our house looks occupied. Refunding my co-op membership.

One thing. I forgot only ONE thing.

Our passports and green cards.

Somewhere in a late night/early morning 4 am fog, I managed to pack our border-crossing documentation. By the time I realized it, the movers were long gone and Box #19 was buried in the depths of the moving trailer.

Let’s just remind ourselves of that trailer, yes?

  
There was no way of finding that box. Not without calling the movers back, saying “oops, my bad,” and asking them to unload and reload. Which I very much doubt they would do for free.

After the initial panic, we came up with options. We did have birth certificates (thank you Jesus!) so we were pretty sure we could get into Canada. Getting back into the US was the bigger issue.

Option 1 was to stay stateside and not attempt any crossing. Which, no. Because Christmas.

Option 2 was to go home for Christmas, but drive West through Canada. Then the undocumented immigrants would squat with some very kind relatives while The Husband (who had his docs) would go down and meet the moving trailer, find the documents, and come rescue us.

Option 3 was to go home for Christmas and then throw ourselves on the mercy of the US border guards and claim stupidity.

So the kids and I decided to chance it, shoehorned ourselves into the car and headed north…

Join us in our next installment of “How Could You Remember to Bring The Kids’ Advent Calendars but Forget Your Green Cards” where PM tangles with the Canadian border!