A certain link in my sidebar notwithstanding, I love my mother-in-law. She is very sweet and generous and of course she adores my kids. She is utterly devoted to her large family and her friends. She can even be coaxed into some gentle snarking about my sister-in-law (her other daughter-in-law). We spent this holiday with her, and I am thankful for:
- Uncrowded airports and indulgent baggage handlers. Arriving at the airport at 4:30 a.m. on the Busiest Travel day of the Year had its benefits. We sailed through security (after dumping our sippy cups... I thought I understood 3-1-1, but evidently not) and the kids were amazing. Opie befriended all the workers on the tarmac by eagerly waving from the window of each and every plane we were on. (And I am grateful that we, and all our friends and family, traveled safely.)
- Food I did not have to cook, even if it was offered to me a minimum of 100 times per day. Despite his mighty protests, Jeff's mom, grandmother, and aunts made everything. Jo helped wash the potatoes and I set about half the table. That was it. (And I am grateful that we always have plenty of food to eat, even if the kids won't always actually eat it.)
- The new shower nozzle thingamajig attached to the bathtub faucet in MIL's bathroom. Still no actual shower stall, but at least I can wash my hair while sitting in the tub now, instead of using the utility sink in the basement. I am not kidding, this means a lot to me. (And I am grateful for all the comforts of home.)
- My son's voice. He now requests his favorite songs at bedtime ("Suh-shiiine!" "Moww-ten!" "Muh-keys!"), going so far as to demand only the first verse of "You Are My Sunshine" (which if you read the lyrics, makes good sense. Who knew the song was about infidelity, or Louisiana?). This he accomplishes by saying "Suh-shine" and then singing "haaaap-eeeee." (And I am deeply, profoundly grateful for my two little rays of sunshine and their dad, and for our good health.)
- The very endearing way all the aunties claim the kids--their great-grandnieces and nephews--as "our" whenever they are mentioned: "Did you see our Liza made the honor roll?" "Our Landon loved that toy, remember?" And the way they follow every compliment with a "God bless him": "He's a beautiful child, God bless him." (And I am grateful for four generations under one roof, and for all our family far and wide.)
10 comments:
Four generations? That is truly amazing. How wonderful for your kids.
Your sister-in-law. Hee hee hee hee hee...it's been a while since I thought about her.
I'm glad that it all went so well. Your MIL and the rest of her local family are wonderful, but you are an exemplary DIL too.
Four generations! How lucky for you!
This sounds like a great Thanksgiving. I had a relative who didn't have a showerhead, either -- it made hair washing quite complicated, and I never understood how they managed with that every day!
Four generations! That's awesome. I felt that way this summer, when there were five generations together at a family BBQ. Truly amazing.
Everyone else is commenting on four generations, but my first thought was - there are more verses to You Are My Sunshine?
After reining in my tangent brain, thanks for sharing those thoughts. I'm also grateful for family, love, and health.
Nice way to count your blessings! Looking forward to the blog exchange with you.
You have a lot to be thankful for! Great post.
And as an aside, at my FIL's house, the "shower" is a piece of garden hose attached to the bathtub faucet.
I, too, was thankful that I didn't have to cook on Thanksgiving. Nice post -- it's fun having all the generations together. Ever since my grandmother died, we all rarely get together like that anymore.
That does sound lovely. We had 4 generations at Thanksgiving as well.
Post a Comment