Why I Chose to Live With My In-Laws

living with in-laws

Most people would run the other way at the thought of your in-law’s coming to visit them – let alone live with them permanently. ” But why?” is what most people say to me, in painful shock, when I tell them my in-laws have been living with us for 2+ years. To tell you the truth, I also had my reservations and I thought long and hard about it for many, many years before we finally took the plunge. When we finally came to a decision to let them live with us, there were many key factors that came into play.

my in-laws

1. I wanted my kids to grow up with their grandparents very involved in their life

I was very close with my own grandparents growing up, and even though they have passed on, I still think about them every day. They taught me so many things and had such a huge positive influence on me that I can honestly say that if I had not had them, I would be a completely different person today. In many difficult moments in my life, I have drawn strength just from the thought of them and the unconditional love they gave me.  This is my #1 reason why I wanted my in-laws to live with us – so that they can be heavily involved in my kids’ lives. They can give them patience when we can’t, they can give them unconditional love, and isn’t any grandma’s cooking the best a kid has ever tasted? A grandparents/grandchild connection is so sacred. Any time I get into a fight with my in-laws and I start to regret living with them, I think about the amazing bond that they have with my kids and when I think about the bigger picture, it’s so worth it.

2.  They can teach the kids things we can’t
My youngest daughter is growing up bilingual, and my oldest daughter is turning out to be a whiz at math. This is definitely NOT my influence!
Both my husband & I converse in English, and we are terrible at math.

3. It’s financially smarter to live under one roof
Rather than rent my in-law’s an apartment that neither of us can afford (it would cost an extra $1500-$2000/month), we all live under one roof. 1 roof = 1 rent, 1 grocery bill, etc. We moved to a larger place over the summer which has 3 bedrooms 1 for us, 1 for my in-law’s and 1 for
the kids)  and we are able to save a lot of our earnings for the future. My father-in-law is saving 95% of his pay cheques for his retirement, and we are able to save a solid portion of ours, as well.

4. We have more freedom
Most people would think that when you’re in-law’s stay with you, you have less freedom – but in fact, the opposite is true. With my in-law’s living with us, I can step out at any time to go to work, go for a date night with my husband, meet a friend – even at the last minute – because someone’s always home to watch the kids. If my in-law’s lived on their own, it would be a logistical nightmare to pack up the children and bring them over to their place.

5. You feel less isolated, always a companion at home
Even when my in-laws annoy me, I would rather be irritated than lonely! Being lonely and isolated, with no one to talk to is one of the worst feelings in the world. And in  Westernculture, it really plagues people miserably because a lot of families live separately. Being a parent is
incredibly isolating and lonely. I love the companionship my in-law’s give us at home – whether it is by watching a movie with my mother-in-law, going grocery shopping with my father-in-law, or asking their advice on an important matter.

 

Living with my in-law’s is something that I chose for our life, and I don’t regret it. It has made not only my life better, but my husband’s and my kids’ lives better too.


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