Ooh She's a Little Runaway
This morning I borrowed my in-laws' car and ran to the store. As I walked though the aisles, concentrating on the products rather than my child's temperament, I thought, "Hey. This is pretty nice. Even though it's just twenty minutes, I wouldn't have gotten this if we lived on our own." And so I relished in my momentary independence.
Honey - er, Dad - I'm Home
Since Bruce and I moved in together way back when, I've always greeted him at the door when he arrives home from work. He would always give me a kiss, even before putting down his keys. When we got Minnie the cat, she would hear him coming and run to the front entrance, where we would meet him together. Later we added the baby to the routine, though that was to be only for a short while.
Now, because the baby and I spend so much time upstairs, and Minnie lounges in various places in this house, we rarely go down to welcome him. Instead, he sees his father first, because his dad is usually sitting on the couch. Bruce comes up to change his clothes and we see him. That's when Minnie appears.
One day we'll be in our own house, again crowding around Bruce at the threshold.
Grandparentproofing
Bruce is gradually babyproofing the downstairs so it's more comfortable to be down there with Emmie. Last night he stuck this foamy stuff around the brick base of the fireplace. As he was opening the package, I could see his mother eyeing it warily. She wanted to know if it could be removed easily, like if company was coming over.
He's started pointing out in a joking way things that will need to be removed, like this crazy intense power strip that has about a jillion cords snaking out of it. "What do you guys need that for?" He laughed. "It looks like you're running NASA in the living room!" His mother sniffed defensively.
I get that their lives have already been turned upside down, and they want to keep their house the way they're used to. But they don't seem to get that the baby needs to move around unimpeded. Bruce's dad actually said, "We never babyproofed when you were kids. Can't you just watch her?"
To which Bruce replied, "Dad, you guys didn't have so much crap when we were kids. We need to be able to let Emmie roam a bit. We can't chase after her constantly."
I have to say, I was pretty proud of him.
One Point for Me
I was talking with Bruce's mom about our plans for October. We've been spending an extraordinary amount of social time with his family since we moved in. It's a lot easier to get out of doing stuff when you live on your own. Thus, I've been trying to fill up the weekends with other plans in advance.
"On the 13th, the Landmeiers are coming over for dinner," she informed me.
Um, okay.
I asked slowly, "So, are you guys having a couples' night or do you think they'd want to see the baby?"
"What do you think?" She smiled.
I did not smile. "So, what you're saying is, we have plans on the 13th, then, too."
Now, I hate any kind of confrontation. Normally, I would accept these plans and then be sour about them later. Since I've become a mom, however, I've realized that I need more of a spine and must be direct with people when necessary. And guess what! It worked!
Bruce's mom backed off. "No! Oh, no. If you guys have plans, then so be it! All I'm saying is, if you're home, I'm sure they'd love to see Emmie."
By not avoiding the situation and dealing with it myself right away, I eliminated the potential for me to get angry in the future and complain to Bruce. This adventure with the in-laws might actually help me improve some aspects of my character!
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