The best part of coming home

In addition to my very positive travel experience on my way home, I had another great part, the best part in fact. I walked in the door at 2:20 in the morning, greeted by my wife who I had missed a lot on this trip.

We decided not to open anything up right then and just go right to bed to get as much sleep as possible before the kids got up.

About 6:45 or so, I heard the bedroom door open and then close right away. I waited a minute or two to see if two little bodies would soon join us in bed. They did not. I was quite awake, so I decided to go out and see what the kids were up to.

I carefully opened the bedroom door, trying not to wake my sleeping wife. I walked quietly into the dining room and stopped to listen for sounds from my kids. My son peered around the corner from the front room. His reaction was priceless.

He ran full speed ahead toward me shouting ‘Daddy! Daddy!! Daddy!!!!’ and jumped into my arms. That was followed by my daughter with a very similar reaction. How great does it make you feel to get a greeting like that? That is the best!!

Hugs and kisses and cuddles followed. Then came the question – ‘Can we open your suitcase and see our surprises?’ I told them they needed to get mommy up so she could help. Mommy didn’t stand a chance of sleeping any more with two kids as motivated as these two were.

Once we were all assembled in the living room, the opening of the suitcases began. The kids began quickly removing all the contents of the first suitcase, each one claiming as their own certain things accompanied by gleeful comments like "I love this. It's my favorite!" They have a remarkable ability to sort out who gets what.

Then on to the second suitcase. More goodies. Lots of new clothes, some new toys, some videos, books, and food stuff. And a few practical things like toiletries, etc.

This is the best part for me. A great greeting/reaction from my wife and kids, and shear joy at all the fun things that come back with me for them. I love seeing them so happy, and I love that they like it when I come back. Much better than “Oh, you again?” And the scones mixed in the new KithcenAid mixer were delicious.

Most of the things this time were not bought by me, but by other family members and some friends. Even though they were supposed to be for Christmas, we decided not to wait. The kids know who everything is from and are so thankful for it all.