Noah and Lily were sitting on the living room rug in the middle of a pile of brown paper packing bags.

Lily was swinging her feet back and forth while Noah tugged hard at a corner of a cardboard box.

“Did you bring them?” Lily asked, jumping to her feet.

I put my handbag on the side table and reached for the box cutter on the kitchen counter.

“They showed up in the mail three hours ago,” I said.

Noah peeled the tape off the top flap and pulled out a dark blue canvas backpack with padded shoulder straps.

“It’s got four zipper pockets, Mom,” Noah said, his soft voice rushing.