Homeward bound

The kids are all excited about going to Kerala. As I began packing their stuff into a suitcase day before yesterday, they joined in. To the extent that I had to retreat and let them do it. When I returned, Mira had thrown in two pairs of used slippers without packing them separately along with a huge gangly doll she got from her dad recently and which filled up the entire space in the box.
And I had to start all over again. V advised that it was no use getting agitated with them, and I do it when they were asleep.
Only difference from last year is that this time the parents are feeling sadder than the kids about the impending departure. The latter are looking forward to the vacation in the pristine, vast premises of their maternal home - for evenings spent watering the little garden in front along with their granpa, for a game of cricket with their new bat and ball with Bruno the lab cheering, for frequent sprints to the family house next door to see their great granny, for indoor playtime with the wooden train set and activity books etc etc.
The parents in the meantime will return to an empty, less messy house that doesnt echo with squeals of laughter and the screams of mutiny.