Abhay's big move!

 Abhay is a little too sentimental for a four year old. He finds it hard to let go of things – be it places, his possessions, people or memories associated with them. For instance, it’s been more than eight months since we moved to our new apartment, and Abhay still gets nostalgic when we pass by our old apartment. He can’t understand why a place that was once his home no longer is and it doesn’t matter that the old house has been emptied of all his favorite toys, his bed and TV. He finds it hard to accept that there are others living his old apartment just as he is probably living in a house that was once home someone else.Clearly, he still wants to hold on, when all we want him to do is to move on. More so, when we’re planning our next big move – back to India in July. Of course, Abhay is aware that we’re moving back to Bangalore soon but I don’t think it has sunk in yet…..and he's not the only one .... it hasn’t sunk into us either!:-) 

Anyway, in an attempt to prepare him (and myself) for our impending move, today I read “Bella and Stella come Home” by Anika Denise and Christopher Denise. A young girl named Bella and her soft toy friend named Stella are sad as they bid good bye to their old house and are about to move to a new house. As they enter their new dwelling, they are disappointed to find that their new abode is nothing like their old home – the entrance has eight steps instead of three, the kitchen is yellow and not blue, the garden does not have an oak tree just like the old garden, the doors make a creaky noise and worst of all, the new house simply does not feel like home. But as her room gets filled with familiar things like her dresser, her round rug and her favorite toys, Bella finds the new house slowly inching towards being called her home! I just hope both Abhay and me get that same feeling as quickly as Bella and Stella did, when we move back to our new house in Bangalore!:-)