Family

So my mother in law is moving in again, this time for a long term arrangement. I'm conflicted: obviously there's NO way either of us would ever say no to her moving in, because she's truly in a place where she needs some help and we're the kids in the best position to provide it. Last time she lived with us it was temporary while she looked for an apartment after moving back from Arizona. This time she's getting out of a bad relationship and needs a chance to get her shit together.

But much as I love her and she's family, this will bring out so many stressors large and small in our household. Space is a huge thing for us: we are not small people and it's easy to feel cramped. Plus, I'm losing my office entirely this time, as we've decided to give her as much time as she needs to get going, which means she needs a room truly her own. In all fairness, he's losing his space also: we're moving my office into his and sharing, so I feel better than the last few times we've had longer term guests/renters. I hope we'll get along ok in there. And I really hope he doesn't get too cranky in general, the way he usually does when someone else is living with us.

There are small annoyances living with a third person when a couple is used to their own house. The upstairs bedroom doors are always open (even all night) to give the dog roaming ability and to let air flow. I won't be able to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night without dragging out a robe...or get out of the shower and run downstairs to grab clean clothes from the dryer...one more person to figure out dinner schedules, tv schedules, etc. None of these are dealbreakers, just the side effects of a larger family than two that I'll need to get used to all over again.


I AM rather excited about her habit of cleaning when she's bored. And we don't generally have that "it's my house" thing between us. Overall it'll be good, but I'll miss my nearly perfect privacy. Aah, family.