Nana to the Rescue

This past week, Vance had to go to California for work. I think he was afraid that he might come home and find the wrecked remains of his wife huddled in a corner, twitching and biting her nails while the kids foraged for themselves out of the pantry. He was right to be afraid for my sanity, I think. At any rate, he begged his mom to come and help out while he was gone. I'm so glad he did.

We've always lived far away from family, so I've never had the luxury of help when I've had to play Single Mom. But let me tell you, having an extra pair of hands sure is nice! Nana read books, retrieved pacifiers, baked muffins, played catch, cuddled my baby, cleaned my kitchen, swept the floors, babysat, and sang approximately 8,546,332 bedtime songs. She even made Vance a double batch of his favorite snack mix. I don't have many pictures of Nana from this weekend, but that's probably because she wasn't sitting still much.

For a lot of women, the word "mother-in-law" is enough to start a full on vent session. There's something about two women from different families suddenly being thrown in together that seems to be a pretty consistent recipe for trouble. All of which makes me feel grateful for my mother-in-law. That gratefulness has only increased after losing my own mother. Claudia doesn't criticize me or try to control my husband. She doesn't undermine my attempts at running my household, even though I'm pretty new at this and I make lots of mistakes she wouldn't. She isn't shocked when my children disobey, or when our family doesn't look like anything Norman Rockwell would want to paint. She doesn't try to replace my mom, but she does treat me like family. She loves my children so much that I can't help but love her back, and thank God for giving our family such a wonderful woman.

So thank you, Mom. Not just for doing my chores this week--but for loving all of us so unconditionally. You can come stay anytime :).