I don't know where to start when it comes to my in-laws. They are completely different from my parents...not to say my family doesn't have it's own form of crazy. We do!
My in-laws are the oddest, strangest, most eccentric people I have EVER met.
They are also loyal, supportive, encouraging...and my mother-in-law loves me and my children unconditionally.
Like she loves just about everybody.
Most of what I learned about being a MOM...I learned from her.
She is mother-ish.
Just like I want to be.
My m-i-l welcomed me into their family with open arms. She tried to teach me how to cook, but I was young and uninterested at the time. But she taught me many other things...not with her words, but by her deeds. I watched how she lived her life, how she mothered her children...what kind of grandmother she is, what kind of friend she is.
She and my father-in-law? Polar opposites. Where she is quiet...he is LOUD; where she tries to smooth everything over...he lives to stir things up; where she is trusting...he is skeptical; where she is naturally generous...that comes harder to him. But both love us fiercely, and both are all about family.
They just go about it differently.
They go about EVERYTHING differently.
It took me a long time to get used to them. Truth be told, I'm still getting used to them. My family growing up...we were quiet, reserved and mannerly. We asked, "please pass the salt," and then said, "thank you." When we wanted pie, we cut a nice, neat piece, and put it on our plate. We did not wait until the pan was set on the table and then each grab whatever utensil we could find and just go at it...all together and at the same time. There was no such thing in my house as a "community fork." (ewww) We wore clothes around the house and never, EVER spit in the yard. My parents were polite to each other, complimentary even. My Dad, especially, always thought my Mom was beautiful, smart and talented, and told her so. And told everyone else SO. My father-in-law on the other hand...loves an audience, loves to put on a show and loves to stir things up...so if we are around he will say to my m-i-l: "DON'T TALK WHILE I AM TALKIN', JACK," in his most gruff voice.
She will act all huffy, or completely ignore it.
It's a dance they've done for years.
I stood out to them as much as they stood out to me. In a family of loud, rowdy boys...I was the first girl.
My in-laws...each of them are just a MESS, but I can't imagine our lives without them.
"In everything set them an example by doing what is good..." Titus 2:7
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