Okay, so it’s about time I get down to the nitty gritty, and explain why I've been MIA a lot the past few weeks: My parents are moving. Next week if everything goes as planned. Soon followed by my aunt and uncle, to a property right down the road from us. After that, we will be moving into my parents old double wide. Then, we’ll officially be on our own.
It’s all come down to space. We are all family and love each other very much. But we are all too crowded here. So when someone gave my parents the opportunity to rent out a home closer to town, my dad jumped at the offer. My mother was harder to convince, but in the end, she caved. And once they had made the deal they came to us and asked if we wanted the double wide, free of rent. And we JUMPED.
This is going to be a good thing. A much needed change. But I’d be lying if I said everything was peachy. In all honesty, we’ve become very dependent on my parent’s help. It was very convenient for Emery to just walk right over and sit on the porch with her grandma and grandpa while mom and dad caught some extra sleep. Emergencies, or last minute late night trips to the store, were easier to deal with when my parents were RIGHT THERE. And I know that a 20 minute drive isn’t that far, but it will still be an adjustment. One that hasn’t fully sank in just yet. And probably won’t until the packing begins.
Acceptance hasn’t just been hard on us either. As awesome as this move is for my parents, and again it’s not that far, my mother has already had a few little breakdowns. They’re just as attached to Emery as she is to them. They’ve been picking her up early and taking her out as often as possible. They shower her (and us) with gifts. And they keep assuring us that they’ll be available whenever we need them. They’ve even offered to turn the guest room in their new house into a room for us so we can go stay overnight from time to time. My mother keeps saying that she feels like we’re moving states away even though it’s only a few minutes down the road. As silly as that may seem I kind of get how she feels that way. It’s a change.
Now, this isn’t permanent. My parents bought property right down the road from where we currently live and plan on building a home later in the future. So, they’ll be back. And my dad has already told my mother that if she doesn’t like it after six months they can move back, and we’ll gladly move back into the house we’re currently in. It’s that simple. But, I’m pretty sure once they get settled in their new home, they won’t want to move back for awhile. It’s just way more convenient. The house needs a few cosmetic repairs, and a little bit of paint, but other than that it’s pretty much perfect.
So that’s what’s been going on. It’s not anything secret or huge, I just didn’t want to say anything until my parents finally put the money down on it. Because like I stated before, my mother was pretty hard to convince. All last week I was pretty busy with my already crazy schedule but I was also helping them get things ready for the move. In fact, on Tuesday we went and picked out paint for the rooms, and we also went through our storage buildings to see what all they will be taking and leaving behind. It’s been a bit hectic. And until this move happens, our schedules have been completely thrown for a loop. I know I said I was going to be better about blogging, but sometimes, life happens.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Here's to getting back to normal. :)
Same thing happened to us a few years ago. There was one house in between our home, and my in-law's home. The situation helped us out a lot. They are truck drivers, so it was no problem for one of us to go over to their place and take care of plants and animals while they were on the road.
ReplyDeleteOut of eggs? No problem! We'd borrow food and other household items (roll of toilet paper, trash bag, etc) on a frequent basis. They'd do the same.
If one of us was home alone with the kids and needed to go somewhere (and the inlaws were home) they were happy to keep an eye on them.
Sometimes my mother in law would call and say "Hey I made too many pancakes for breakfast, you want some?"
We all got along great and it was actually nice!
But back in 2008 when the economy went belly up, my husband lost his job. We couldn't afford to live in our house any more. The inlaw's house was way to small for our family of six to move in.
After it was all said and done, we moved about 20 minutes away from them.
Since we weren't there anymore, they decided to move into a bigger, nicer place (in case we ever needed someplace to stay again). Their new place was also 20 minutes away, but in a different direction.
Then life happened, and they had to move again.....only now their place is closer to an hour away.
We've been about an hour away from them for a few years now.
Our frequently family dinners only happen once a month at the most now. The kids only get to see their grandparents about once a month as well.
While it sucks, it has cause both of our families to be more independent. And now when we get together the time spent is actually more like "quality time".
We all currently rent our homes. Hopefully someday in the future when my husband and I can buy a home, we can find one with an apartment in the basement or one with another smaller house on the property.
We really enjoyed having everyone close together!
So I feel your pain :)