I love my parents. Not even a little bit, like, a lot. As I've grown up, they have gone from being the World's Best Parents to The World's Best Parents AND My Closest Friends. They are so supportive of our Navy family and welcome us with open arms and an open door anytime we want to visit or even move in with them in between duty stations or during deployments. However, as great as they are, living with family can be a sticky situation even with the closest and most understanding families so I wanted to write this blog post to air some of my complaints that I have with my family publicly without consulting them first (best way to handle family drama, right?).
1. My mom always has laundry for me to put away.
She comes around to all of our rooms, finds and collects the dirty laundry we have stashed in corners, washes, dries, and folds it and then puts these HUGE piles of clean, folded laundry at the foot of my bed for ME to put away. Like I have ALL THIS TIME to put away laundry?!
2. We ran out of wine that one time.
My sister made this DELICIOUS mulled wine. It was so good and we laughed and drank it and had a great time at dinner. AND THEN... there wasn't any more. I had an empty glass and no more mulled wine. It really put a damper on my evening.
3. I rarely see all 5 of my kids at the same time.
My grandmother (our children's great-grandmother) wants to play cards with the oldest. Our other boys are in the woods behind the house. The baby is glued to my parents' side. How am I supposed to spend time with all my kids when they are always spending time with family?
4. What am I supposed to do with myself?
At their house, I can announce, "I'm going out tonight," and they say, "Oh? Where to?" No scrambling for a sitter. No dropping some kids off here and some kids off there and rushing home for bedtime. No. They enjoy the time with the children AND they do all of the bedtime routine great. Seriously, what am I supposed to do with myself???
5. I never get a moment to myself.
I mean, they tag along to everything. Everything! We go to the children's school and they come. We go to the pool and they come. We go to the park and they come. We go to lunch and they come. They talk with the kids and help with the baby and feed the toddler and I am left to do one-on-one time with the child who's special event it is. I am left to talk to their teachers without constant interruptions. I'm left to use my hands without a baby on my hip and a toddler on my leg and an elementary school kid hanging on me... I mean, is that actually even mom life?
6. ...and they are always getting in my business.
Asking the kids how their day was. If they can help with something. If I want them to bathe the kids that night. Cheering the kids on at the pool or the park and coming to all the functions to watch and be excited for the kids with me. I'm a Navy Spouse; aren't I supposed to be ALL ALONE doing everything ALONE?
7. They push me.
Shouldn't you go back to school? Shouldn't you finish your book? Shouldn't you call your friends? Shouldn't you invite your friends to this? They are always talking to my friends. Asking about my friends' kids. Inviting them around. Volunteering to take the kids so I can "achieve my dreams." It's like... maybe I want to Netflix and chill, you know?
8. They are full of it.
They tell me all the time what a great mom I am. What a great friend I am. How great my kids are. How much they like having us. How happy they are to see me. How much they like my friends. How great my sisters are. How they want us to stay longer or stay again or come back soon. I mean, they even love my pets. Really? Are they really that welcoming? And they do this year after year. Visit after visit. Month after month. All the time, all these nice things. It gets exhausting to always say, "Thank you, we are glad to be here too, yeah, yeah, we love you too..."
9. They constantly ask me questions.
Every time someone makes a store run, "Can I pick you up anything while I'm out?" When my mom drives home from work, "Can I stop at the store for you?" If I'm having a bad day, "Why don't you go to the coffee shop while we watch the kids?" If I'm running around in circles and the kids are half dressed, "What can I do to help?" When I finish up making dinner, "Can I wash the dishes?" While I'm bathing the kids, "How about I make cookies and you bring them down when they are in pajamas?" I get asked a million questions all day by the kids and they really just add to it. It's a lot.
10. I'm having a hard time buttoning my pants.
So much food. Breakfast made for us every weekend-- homemade biscuits, pancakes, pull apart bread. Decadent desserts-- German chocolate cake, cookies every night, pies, pastries. Any type of alcohol that I would want with any meal. Baby-sitters any time I want to go to a restaurant with friends or coffee by myself or whatever. It is hard for the waist line.
It is hard to believe that under these conditions I keep coming back to stay with my parents. But, family is family. What are your complaints living with family?
1. My mom always has laundry for me to put away.
She comes around to all of our rooms, finds and collects the dirty laundry we have stashed in corners, washes, dries, and folds it and then puts these HUGE piles of clean, folded laundry at the foot of my bed for ME to put away. Like I have ALL THIS TIME to put away laundry?!
2. We ran out of wine that one time.
My sister made this DELICIOUS mulled wine. It was so good and we laughed and drank it and had a great time at dinner. AND THEN... there wasn't any more. I had an empty glass and no more mulled wine. It really put a damper on my evening.
3. I rarely see all 5 of my kids at the same time.
My grandmother (our children's great-grandmother) wants to play cards with the oldest. Our other boys are in the woods behind the house. The baby is glued to my parents' side. How am I supposed to spend time with all my kids when they are always spending time with family?
4. What am I supposed to do with myself?
At their house, I can announce, "I'm going out tonight," and they say, "Oh? Where to?" No scrambling for a sitter. No dropping some kids off here and some kids off there and rushing home for bedtime. No. They enjoy the time with the children AND they do all of the bedtime routine great. Seriously, what am I supposed to do with myself???
5. I never get a moment to myself.
I mean, they tag along to everything. Everything! We go to the children's school and they come. We go to the pool and they come. We go to the park and they come. We go to lunch and they come. They talk with the kids and help with the baby and feed the toddler and I am left to do one-on-one time with the child who's special event it is. I am left to talk to their teachers without constant interruptions. I'm left to use my hands without a baby on my hip and a toddler on my leg and an elementary school kid hanging on me... I mean, is that actually even mom life?
6. ...and they are always getting in my business.
Asking the kids how their day was. If they can help with something. If I want them to bathe the kids that night. Cheering the kids on at the pool or the park and coming to all the functions to watch and be excited for the kids with me. I'm a Navy Spouse; aren't I supposed to be ALL ALONE doing everything ALONE?
7. They push me.
Shouldn't you go back to school? Shouldn't you finish your book? Shouldn't you call your friends? Shouldn't you invite your friends to this? They are always talking to my friends. Asking about my friends' kids. Inviting them around. Volunteering to take the kids so I can "achieve my dreams." It's like... maybe I want to Netflix and chill, you know?
8. They are full of it.
They tell me all the time what a great mom I am. What a great friend I am. How great my kids are. How much they like having us. How happy they are to see me. How much they like my friends. How great my sisters are. How they want us to stay longer or stay again or come back soon. I mean, they even love my pets. Really? Are they really that welcoming? And they do this year after year. Visit after visit. Month after month. All the time, all these nice things. It gets exhausting to always say, "Thank you, we are glad to be here too, yeah, yeah, we love you too..."
9. They constantly ask me questions.
Every time someone makes a store run, "Can I pick you up anything while I'm out?" When my mom drives home from work, "Can I stop at the store for you?" If I'm having a bad day, "Why don't you go to the coffee shop while we watch the kids?" If I'm running around in circles and the kids are half dressed, "What can I do to help?" When I finish up making dinner, "Can I wash the dishes?" While I'm bathing the kids, "How about I make cookies and you bring them down when they are in pajamas?" I get asked a million questions all day by the kids and they really just add to it. It's a lot.
10. I'm having a hard time buttoning my pants.
So much food. Breakfast made for us every weekend-- homemade biscuits, pancakes, pull apart bread. Decadent desserts-- German chocolate cake, cookies every night, pies, pastries. Any type of alcohol that I would want with any meal. Baby-sitters any time I want to go to a restaurant with friends or coffee by myself or whatever. It is hard for the waist line.
It is hard to believe that under these conditions I keep coming back to stay with my parents. But, family is family. What are your complaints living with family?
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