My new house guest

Starting this Sunday, my mother-in-law is 'temporarily' moving in. She'll be living with us from Sundays through Thursdays for the next five weeks while she undergoes treatment for her back at a special clinic in Etobicoke.

I mentioned this to a few people over the last few weeks and each time, I've received the same reaction – an eyes bugging out expression followed by an 'oh my God'. The weird thing is, is right from the minute this decision was made, I've never looked at it in an 'Oh My God' kind of way.

Don't get me wrong, having someone move into my basement, even temporarily, isn’t high on my list of things to do but honestly, I’m not looking at this as a bad thing. Here’s why:

· She’ll get to spend lots of time with Austin.

· I’ll have adult company every day for the next five weeks – which will be nice, especially on Austin’s fussy days.

· There’s someone else around to watch Austin. I don’t expect her to babysit while I go out (especially since she can’t lift him because of her back) but it means I can leave him in the living room with her for a few minutes and take a shower or put on a load of laundry. I don’t have to wait until he falls asleep to do all that.

· Spending all day, every day, together will give us an opportunity to get to know each other better.

· She doesn’t expect me to entertain her, and that takes a lot of pressure off. This means, I’ll still be going out and meeting friends like usual.

· She understands that this isn’t an ideal situation. In fact, she asked me if I was sure about this by saying “I wouldn’t have wanted my mother-in-law to move in with me for five weeks.”

· Having someone move into the guest room and, by extension, our basement, has given us a reason, and the motivation, to furnish those rooms. There will now be a proper bed in the guest room (no more futon) and a couch and love seat in the adjoining family room. A few pictures on the wall, and a DVD player to go with the TV, and the place will be all done up.

So there you have it. It will likely feel kind of busy and crazy around here at times but I think it’s going to work out just fine.

But, I draw the line at having to watch Dancing with the Stars!