Mommy Dearest
I spent the first few days of summer vacation griping relentlessly about how much all this togetherness sucked and how the kids were draining the life out of me with their messes and destruction and tape in weird places. But then something amazing happened.
My mom moved in.
Previously four and a half hours away, she decided she wanted to be closer to us. So after she retired in June, she relocated to Iowa - and until she finds a place, is living in our basement. I set up some shackles and an old dirty mattress down there and got some really strong chains and she's right at home.*
*I'm just kidding, the mattress is clean.
Anyway, it has been WONDERFUL. First of all because Curtis and I both actually get along with my mother very well, and I enjoy having her here (and the boys are in heaven having regular access to their adoring "Mimi" for the first time in their lives). But also because my mom is a neat freak (see here and here and here) who enjoys housekeeping. Since she's been here, my house has been perpetually clean - at least clean enough so that if company dropped by, I wouldn't have to apologize for the mess and/or the funny odor. I haven't done laundry in like a month. I've been able to make solo trips to the grocery store! And go on a date with my husband! It's a miracle. I feel spoiled rotten, y'all. I keep saying, "Mom, remember that you don't have to do any of this," lest we end up feuding on a talk show over her greedy daughter using her for free labor ... but at least so far, she adamantly insists that she is enjoying herself tremendously.*
*And I mean ... she's stopped wailing and clawing at the basement wall when she's chained up down there, soooo ....
I was anxious at first about how it would go. Would we get on each other's nerves? Would the kids drive her crazy? Would she ever be able to figure out how to work our remote control by herself? But to everyone's delight, the summer has actually turned out to be - dare I say - enjoyable. I'm not feeling stretched in a million directions, so I'm actually enjoying the dudes more. I cook, which I like to do, and my mom cleans, which she likes to do, and we both take care of the kids. It's like having a sister-wife who doesn't sleep with my husband. WIN!
With this kind of help, we could totally have another baby!
I'm kidding.
... I think.
My mom moved in.
Have I made my love and appreciation for this woman obvious enough?
Previously four and a half hours away, she decided she wanted to be closer to us. So after she retired in June, she relocated to Iowa - and until she finds a place, is living in our basement. I set up some shackles and an old dirty mattress down there and got some really strong chains and she's right at home.*
*I'm just kidding, the mattress is clean.
Anyway, it has been WONDERFUL. First of all because Curtis and I both actually get along with my mother very well, and I enjoy having her here (and the boys are in heaven having regular access to their adoring "Mimi" for the first time in their lives). But also because my mom is a neat freak (see here and here and here) who enjoys housekeeping. Since she's been here, my house has been perpetually clean - at least clean enough so that if company dropped by, I wouldn't have to apologize for the mess and/or the funny odor. I haven't done laundry in like a month. I've been able to make solo trips to the grocery store! And go on a date with my husband! It's a miracle. I feel spoiled rotten, y'all. I keep saying, "Mom, remember that you don't have to do any of this," lest we end up feuding on a talk show over her greedy daughter using her for free labor ... but at least so far, she adamantly insists that she is enjoying herself tremendously.*
*And I mean ... she's stopped wailing and clawing at the basement wall when she's chained up down there, soooo ....
I was anxious at first about how it would go. Would we get on each other's nerves? Would the kids drive her crazy? Would she ever be able to figure out how to work our remote control by herself? But to everyone's delight, the summer has actually turned out to be - dare I say - enjoyable. I'm not feeling stretched in a million directions, so I'm actually enjoying the dudes more. I cook, which I like to do, and my mom cleans, which she likes to do, and we both take care of the kids. It's like having a sister-wife who doesn't sleep with my husband. WIN!
With this kind of help, we could totally have another baby!
I'm kidding.
... I think.
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