Soccer balls and books on the luggage carousel

As a mother who has spent a lot of time on planes with small children, I have endured many humiliations. Today was a new addition to the long list however.

I stood at the luggage carousel with the girls after our 15 hour flight from Abu Dhabi to Brisbane waiting for our bags. Then I saw a soccer ball making it’s way around the circle, then another one, then a heap of books strewn along the conveyor belt. Next I saw one of my suitcases, zip split wide open, contents strewn around it. I knew things were bad when my 9 year old edged away from me saying “Oh mum how embarrassing! Nothing to be done but to plaster on a smile and scrabble around dragging everything off muttering “that which does not kill us makes us stronger” under my breath.