Watching my daughter’s 3^rd grade “Field Day” provided 11 metaphors for the packing, purchasing, and panic that were running through my mind while the children ran events on the playground.

With only five days until take-off, one needs a bucket of aphorisms and upselling self-talk to keep from falling like a tweenie in a gunny-sack race…

• You won’t win every race, so just do your best.
• Others will get in your way, so move around them (or mow them over).
• If you fall down hard and can’t get up, take advantage:  Take a nap.
• If the anticipation of the race makes you sleepless, maybe you’re trying (or thinking) too much.
• Remember:  This is a race (that will end), not life or death; the dust will settle—and we’ll all return to dust someday.
• If dizzy and winded, it’s okay to sit a spell and remember the long haul.
• If parents, teachers, and colleagues disapprove of your trip or tactics, ignore them and move on like you have the rest of your life.
• Since travel unfolds like a long relay race, choose good partners who won’t drop the baton.
• The crowd will get noisy and disruptive, but march (and sprint) to your own drummer.
• If you fall while doing the gunny-sack race, ask yourself: Why am I hopping in a gunny-sack—and what is a “gunny,” anyway?
• To minimize disappointment or dehydration, know how to make lemonade.