Let Sleeping Children Lie

"Where am I going to sleep?" ten children ask simultaneously when we arrive at our annual beach getaway with five other families.

This vacation has been a cherished week for our families for seven years now, but as we rent a different home nearly every year, we adults must scramble to make bed assignments before the children become mini-squatters and stake out territory they don't really belong in. Whether it's a tent or a cabin, a hotel or a friend's house, one of the most important things to a vacationing child is where they will be sleeping.

We all dread the unspeakable task of moving a child and their stuffed animals and belongings from a bed they have prematurely claimed, but this year I'm prepared. Most of the families coming to this vacation don't live in the same cities and none of them (outside of siblings) attend the same schools, so I've devised a quiz that will help them get reacquainted — which will also buy us adults some time to solve the sleeping arrangements (a highly debated, straw-drawing affair).

While the kids play their game of "Whodunit?" — Who lost their first tooth at the Central Park Zoo? Who went to sleep-away camp this year? Who was in a wedding? — the parents can assign the beds and seal the deal by putting special pillowcases on each kids' pillow.

Using iron-on T-shirt transfers, digital photos of each child, an inkjet printer, an iron, and a dozen plain white cotton pillowcases, I've created a pillow for each child's bed with their picture and the headline "Cape Cod 2007." Under the pillows, we'll place some "surprise" vacation supplies — flashlights, disposable cameras, a fun "beachy" book, and rope bracelets (for solidarity) — all labeled with their initials in case they get separated from their rightful owners.

Thanks to the personalized pillow plan, I can rest easy. On this vacation, we'll all be getting up on the right side of the bed.