Jen Warman: New Freakin' Mummy

Mar
22
2013

Living With Your Parents Is The New Black

IT'S THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD.

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that in December my husband and I took the plunge and moved to the suburbs.
You may also remember that around that same time, we bought a mini-van.

"Cool" and "urban" quickly slipped off the list of words used to describe us as a couple — and what a relief!

I can now pull up my high-waisted mom jeans (they're back in style) and publicly admit something else that isn't COOL or URBAN:

My parents are living with us.  

Yep. That's right. "My name is Jen, I'm 30 years old — and I live with my parents. Or...they live with us." However you want to phrase it, the bottom line is that we are now living under the same roof as One Big Happy Family.

Whenever I've told people this, I get one of two reactions.

Reaction from people who don't have kids: Are you insane? Why would you do that?

Reaction from people who have kids: That is amazing. You are so lucky. Smart move.

I would like to agree with the later reactions (obviously). Although there are some drawbacks to having your parents live with you (no wild monkey sex on the kitchen counter) we believe the pros outweigh the cons. And lets be honest. Sex on a kitchen counter? The same place I cut raw meat? I don't want my vagina to get salmonella, thank you very much.

Shut up. I'm sure it can happen.

Anyway, my parents have been living with us for about a month now, and really, it's been great. They brought along some furniture (only stuff that I said didn't look "granny-ish") and our house now feels like a home. My Dad and my husband both love to cook, so our fridge is always full of meals for the week. My mom looks after Cole during the day, so that means my mornings are quite enjoyable. I don't need to worry about rushing him off to daycare. 

When we get home from work, my Mom usually has dinner cooking (or thawing from our prepped meals that were made on the weekend) and we can eat right away and then spend the rest of the evening playing with Cole. She also does our laundry...and the dishes. Oh. And feeds our cat. And our dog. 

I know. I know. Please don't hate me. I feel very fortunate to be in this situation — and love coming home to a house full of so much love. That whole "it takes a village" thing really is true. I'm telling you, the bags under my eyes would be a lot heavier and my house a lot more dishevled if it weren't for this living situation.

I know it's not for everyone — but for us, it's working out quite well!

Tell me, do you think you could live with your parents or inlaws?