When the in-laws are in town …

My in-laws are in town this week. I’m sure for a lot of people that’s a frightening statement but not for me. You see, I have the best in-laws in the world. I lucked out. I really did. I hit the in-law jackpot, as it were. 

These are people who are under no legal obligation to love me. Or even to like me. And yet, they do! They have always treated me like one of the family, making me feel welcome and included in everything. They go out of their way to learn about the things I like, what I’m interested in, my job, my hobbies, everything. I’m not sure how I got so lucky. And obviously they love the kids to pieces, too.

And do you know what else? When these people come to town, they do everything in their power to make our lives better and easier for the duration of their stay. They’re very handy folks and can really do just about any home project you throw their way. This trip my father-in-law and my husband are completely redoing the playroom. The idea is to turn it into an office, but since I have no idea where we’ll relocate the zillions of toys to, I think for now it will be a playroom/office hybrid. Anyway, my husband and his dad are doing all the work themselves. During a pervious trip they removed part of the ceiling, removed and window and patched the wall, ran wiring and installed new can lights.  Yesterday they removed two sliding glass doors, took off the outside of the house, built the new walls and installed two new windows. It seems worth mentioning that neither my husband, nor my father-in-law work in the construction field. They’re just handy guys. I’m consistently in awe of the things they’re willing and able to do. 

Meanwhile, my mother-in-law is also a magical woman. She has made the curtains for all the rooms in our house and she has painted most of the rooms too. She also makes the most adorable clothes for the kids. When she’s not busy with major re-dos, she is helping with the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, the grocery shopping and taking care of the kids. Really. It’s true. Yesterday she did all the kids’ laundry, folded it and put it away. She even tackled the mismatched sock collection; it’s at least equal to, if not bigger than, our collection of socks that do have matches. AND THEN, she went through all their drawers and neatly folded and organized all their clothes. Then she cleaned their rooms, their bathrooms and vacuumed. Because I am the luckiest person alive.

I’m sure that that I don’t do an adequate job of expressing my gratitude for the things they do for us. They’re very special people, and I feel so lucky to have been able to join their family. We don’t get to see them nearly as often as we’d like (they live back east) but we are beyond grateful for the time we do get to spend with them.