Our family moved in with my mom and dad November 1st of 2009. The intent behind this was to help my parents pay their mortgage payment in case my mom was laid off, and also to help us out while "buying" the house from my parents. My initial reaction was supreme misgiving. The last place I wanted to live was with my parents . . . mostly because of personality differences between my dad and I. However the idea fit perfectly with me being able to quit my job and focus all my attention and time on finishing school. The plan was that my parents would move downstairs into the basement apartment they built with my Aunt and our little family (not actually so little at 8 members plus Aries) would live upstairs. It was agreed that when my aunt and parents were ready, they would move upstairs and we would move to the downstairs apartment where we will live happily ever after. This was my mom and dad's idea and while it made sense, I hated the feeling that I was displacing my parents in their own house.
So here we are 19 months later. Things are going much better than I anticipated. I was able to quit my job and focus my attention on school and the kids, Darren is working his butt off to support us, and we are down a couple of kids actually living with us. My relationship with my parents is better than it has ever been and my kids have easy access to their grandparents. My dad has taken Grace and Daryn fishing a bunch of times (which Grace LOVES) and comes upstairs on occasion to chat and laugh. I love it.
We just found out that my Aunt is moving to Idaho to be closer to her son so the timetable for us to move downstairs, originally slotted for around 10 years, has been moved up. I'm really excited. Mostly because I won't have to deal with the daily guilt of my parents being downstairs, but also because it feels right. The tentative plan is to begin the moving process after August 1st. The move will require us to buy new home furnishings (as we sold all of ours when we moved to fit). Tosha has recently moved back home (YAY!!) so to accommodate she will be sharing a room with Grace and Daryn. Michaella will be staying upstairs with my parents. The ONLY downside? We will be going from 2 1/2 baths to 1 . . . AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Oh well, we will make it work.