The grandparents are here

In the case of dual-career homes, it can be common for one or both of the spouses to not live in their hometown. Often your job or finding a job means leaving the comforts of "where you are from." This means you "get visits" from grandma and grandpa, versus regular dinners or them stopping by. Either situation has pros and cons of course.

In our house, Arnie left the Detroit area his sophomore year of college and never moved back. In my case I finally truly left the east coast (or at least within an hour of my parents) when I was 25 and headed to Ann Arbor for graduate school. The "funny" thing is both of our parents are still in the houses we grew up in, and the towns they grew up in, so its not like we came from similar situations. It was truly our careers that took us to where we are.

So, when you live away from family, holidays often bring you back together. That is certainly the case for us. Every other year my parents come to Cincy to visit us. This year we are blessed to have my grandmother (maternal) with us as well...we call her "Mimi." They arrived last night after a long drive, deciding to do it in a day vs. the plan to stop and spend the night. We of course loved that and the kids were so excited to see them. They will stay for 10 days with us.

It is so nice to have the extra hands to help out. To cook the big meals, play with the kids or do handiwork. In our case my Arnie isn't too handy so having my dad (or his) around is a godsend. They are both REALLY handy and can do just about anything. I often have a list waiting for them to arrive. My mom loves house stuff. At this point I think she has painted at least four rooms in our house. I can't say enough how great it is to have them here.

My advice to you all would be to cherish the time you have with them. Spend quality time together as a family. Do things you wouldn't normally do, we are going to go to the Conservatory to see the holiday plants on Christmas day. Take time with your husband while you have a built in baby sitter. Cook more, try new recipes...and so on. Before you know it they will be gone, but sure to have lots of photos and video to document the time here.