an open letter to my parents in law

Dear John and Diane,

Well, we've left. Do you notice the silence? The neatness? The empty fridge shelves? You can use the downstairs TV again, walk up the stairs without stepping on little shoes or jackets, eat supper in peace and quiet, see the kitchen counter without bottles, and see the whole living room without any toy at all, imagine that! I think we all did pretty good though, exactly 9 months and 10 days bunking in together. A good generational family experiment. One highchair, two booster seats and a full table of family every night for dinner. It was actually quite fun. And really, really nice for the boys to get to know you so well.

Dad, my funniest moment was when you both came home from a week away and Henry and Walter, just having gotten out of the bath, came barreling through the house buck naked screaming "Grandad!" as they hurtled themselves at you. I haven't seen you laugh that hard in a long time. They had so much fun making themselves at home here, having the whole house and the big backyard to play in and explore. And they just wanted to help as much as they could: watering the garden, emptying the dishwasher, washing the car, setting the table, mixing the batter, moving wet clothes over to the dryer. Mom, what I appreciated the most from you was the time you took to explain everything to the boys, to teach them even when it wasn't meant to be teaching. You had great patience in always taking an extra minute or five to explain the details of a story, or what was the difference was between weeds and plants, how little gadgets worked, or what exactly was for supper. You taught them so much this year and I'm really thankful for that.

When we arrived in March Walter was really only saying "Daddy" and "no". "Mummy" was a surprise in our first few weeks and then "Nana" soon after. "Grandad" was a long time coming but Walter knew he did something special when he finally said it, with a grin and a giggle. We all got through Walter's potty training as well ... amazing to think how far that little guy's come in 9 short months.

Felix was not quite 4 months old when we moved in, not even stable enough to sit up in the bouncy exersaucer. Now he's a year old crawling everywhere, opening cupboards and hoping against all hope that someone would let down the dishwasher so he can slide the trays in and out and pull out anything he can. He comes to Nana with outstretched arms and claps his hands, as he knows that this is the lady who sings Pat-a-cake to him. Felix now randomly peeks around from his corner of the dining room table until he catches Grandad's eye, playing peekaboo in his quiet, funny, just-with-Grandad way.

When we arrived we didn't know how long we would be here but you were just always willing to have us stay as long as we needed. And so thank you for giving up your home, your solitude, your table-for-twos, your cupboard space, and your could-be-quilting-instead time for us. We have all so appreciated being here for as long we needed, that was pretty fabulous of you! Thank you for a fully cared-for 2012 ... and now to a new year with truly a new beginning for all of us. I think we might even miss you but at least we're only an hour down the way. Our living room will be full of toys now ... you can keep yours pretty and ready for company again!

Thank you, for all of us,

Cass