That's a picture I took of my mom helping Annie with her homework today.
A few weeks before Josh deployed, my mom called and said that her house had sold and that she didn't have any plans for where she was going to move and asked what I thought about her staying with us for awhile.
It's my mom, so I immediately said yes, but have to admit that my pride got hung up in the whole thing with worries that people might think I was incapable of taking care of the kids on my own while my husband was gone. (Nevermind the fact that I had been a single mom for a total of 9 years prior to meeting Josh Downs.)
My other worry was with how well we'd get along.
Don't get me wrong, my mom and I get along great. But it's a mother-daughter relationship and those can be tricky, especially when living in the same household as two full-grown adults.
My mom lived with me once before. It was right after Coley was born (My ex-husband left when I was pregnant with Cole and so I had to go back to work full-time when he was five days old.) and she stayed with us for eight months to help out during that time.
We never argued and I was so thankful for the help, but there was just an underlying tension that made it difficult for both of us and I was worried that we'd fall back into that same tension 11 years later.
And just a couple weeks into her moving in, it looked like we really were going to fall right back into that same pattern.
But we talked it out.
I had to put some assumptions aside.
She had to put some tendencies aside.
And we're making it work, but without the tension this time.
She's typically here 4-5 days a week and she's amazing. She cooks, she cleans, she helps with the kids and she's the best listener ever.
And sure, I could do this on my own, but I feel lucky that I don't have to.
I also feel lucky that as full-grown women, we get to strengthen and mend a relationship that took a good beating when I was 14 and my parents divorced.
In fact today, when I found myself struggling to get any work done because I couldn't get Josh Downs out of my mind, I crawled up next to where she was reading in bed and she just rubbed my back while I cried. (And then we went to the store to get junkfood and a movie.)
That's healing.
And I don't really think it was a coincidence that her house sold just a few weeks before Josh left.
I think God had it planned all along (because he's good like that.)
And if you're reading this Josh Downs...You can call me at 11:30 p.m. anytime. (It was a great accident.)
