The return to normality.

The most interesting thing about the end of the vacation arc is how brief a time it takes for the chaos, hurt feelings, self-induced misery and other parts of life in the Patterverse to reassert itself. About five minutes after, they get home from dropping Carrie and Will off at the airport, the house immediately transforms from the orderly little nest she'd established into the horrific mess we associate with the Early Years: we have toys all over the place, Farley is on the couch, Mike and Lizzie are fighting and, well, Elly's energy level bottoms out. This might be seen as a bad thing anywhere else in the world but, given her need to feel bad about the mundane, it's almost a relief that nothing really changes that much; were the kids to permanently reform or if John were to wise up, she'd have to give up her favorite daily activity: whining about how hard her lot in life supposedly is.