Back to normal

*Sigh of relief*

Aaaaah, back to normal. Following our holiday in Quadra with three generations of our family (husband's parents, me and husband, three kids) we returned home and had the in-laws stay for a further ten days at our house. It's true what they say - nice to see them, nice to see them go!

It really is a mixed blessing having family members visit. Let's think - on the plus side, help with the cooking and preparing of meals, help with dishes, the kids get to reconnect with their grandparents, some home maintenance gets done (this time, the deck steps were reinforced and a basement room was finally painted).

On the minus side, you lose your privacy, you can't relax properly as you have to make conversation, find ways to keep your guests busy, feel that they are judging your lifestyle and parenting/education choices, try to avoid saying anything that could start an argument, and try not to feel offended when they find something to clean, even though you think you did a pretty good job of getting the house ready before they came!

R and I are both happy to be able to just sit down after dinner and read or talk to each other without feeling like the world will end if the dishes are not done immediately after the food is eaten - or sooner!!!