Monday, December 1, 2008

Blending "Grandmas" in one household....

I live with my mother-in-law. My husband and I moved in with her about 3 1/2 years ago to help her with her lawn care and her pool and just anything that needs done. She is 81...I am 51. She and I have gotten along well throughout this turn of events of living conditions. Now we are also living with my own daughter and her 2 young sons ages 13 and 9 years old. They have just moved in for the time being while my son-in-law is stationed in Kuwait for the next 8 months or so. My daughter has been living in Oklahoma until now and felt the urgent need to "come home" and be surrounded by all her loved ones for the endurance of her time as a "single" mom while he is away.
Things may be getting alittle more lively and hectic than needed but we are all trying to get along as best as we can. This makes 4 generations in one home. Not many can stand up to those odds.
I hope we make people realize it indeed can be done and done well. My mother-in-law's health is in need of someone to be with her 7 days a week, 24 hrs per day. She developed pneomonia about a month ago and went into the hospital for 2 weeks. She was discharged and is now at home and in our care. She has 4 other adult children who call and come by on daily visits but my husband and I and now, my daughter, are her main caregivers.
With all the tenderness and care she has given to her family in her 58 years of mothering and grandmothering and then also great-grandmothering...I think she deserves the utmost respect and quiet times to recoop. This makes it difficult now that the boys are there underfoot. But with a little guidance and a routine established I think our household will come to terms and things will settle down.
This house is large and set up into 4 levels. There is room to roam about and still have your own privacy. The main thing is to remember our mom/grandma is the lady of the house and is still in charge of it's decisions. She deserves the best care and the best attention we can all give to her.
Being a grandma to my boys comes first.. but they also have to understand that her home is now opened up to them for the time being to live and they will abide by her rules and her standards.
Life is changing daily in our world around us. But the life I have been shown by this mother-in-law has been one of openness and sharing and unselfish ways that not alot of women have shown to me. I feel very honored and humbled to be able to live with her.
I hope that the "grandma" status will continue and she will live long years yet with us all. It is our first and foremost reason to be there and experience our daily lives with her now.

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