Abhay spends a week at Grandma's!

Today is the last day of my vacation at my parents' farm house and tonight I am heading back to Bangalore... back to work... and back to pavilion! These two weeks have been magical... away from the daily grind, away from all that maddening traffic, away from the constant rush that dominates our daily schedule! I now get that uneasy feeling that I used to experience just before school reopened after summer holidays and I can only imagine how Abhay might feel before his school reopenes three weeks from now. This time however, I am a little more nervous than usual as Abhay will not accompany me to Bangalore, but will stay behind and will return with his grand parents in the first week of June. Excepting a sleepover for one night or two at my parents' apartment in Bangalore, Abhay has never been away from us and we've never been away from him! It is my 5 year old's first foray into vacationing like a big boy! As it is, with our Bangalore house getting remodelled, it is better for Abhay to stay clear from all that breaking and banging. At the same time, our house will not be the same sans Abhay! It will no longer feel like we've knocked at the door no. 22, Silver Oak Layout without hearing Abhay's loud voice resonate from inside the house... something you will hear as soon as you enter the 2nd cross. Anyway, it was Abhay's idea to stay over at his grand parents' and I just hope he doesn't wear them out. So far he seems to be okay staying alone without his mom hovering around him. But the real test is when I board the bus back to Bangalore tonight! What if he cries for his mommy when he wakes up in the morning? I have my fingers crossed! :-)

As a last book before I leave, I read Berenstain Bears' 'A week at Grandma's' by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain, brought alive via Youtube. Brother and sister bears return from school to find all their belongings packed into suitcases and excitedly guessed that they are on their way to a family vacation. The father bear clarifies that it is a 'Couple's only' vacation and they are to be dropped off to their grand parent's place. All their excitement disappear and brother and sister bears expect to be bored with their grand parents who they feel are old and not as active as their parents. But they are pleasantly surprised that their grand parents have planned a lot of activities for them. They first dig in to their grand father's chest to find many interesting things - grandpa's old yo-yo and grandma's musical instruments that they learn to play. Then grandpa takes them fishing where they catch their biggest fish ever that makes for a perfect center piece for their barbeque dinner at night. Thus they spend the whole week exploring the courtryside like never before. Soon it is time for mama and papa bears to return from their 'Couple's only' vacation that didn't go well as they had planned and hence they decide that their next vacation will be a family vacation. But brother and sister bear don't mind having another vacation at their grandparents'... without their parents. As I leave Abhay here in Dharmastala, I just hope he'll also have fun at his grandparents'... fun without me. Have nice time Abhay... See you in couple of weeks :-)