AT on... Living with Someone Else's Family

During my freshman year of high school (*shudder*), my family moved to a new town because of my stepfather's job. He left in the fall, but in order to finish out the semester, my mom and I stayed until Christmas. The tricky part was that we also had to be out of our house that fall, so, we were invited to stay with a previous co-worker of my stepdad's. This couple soon became close family friends, but suddenly living with another family was challenge, even when surrounded by comforts:

Many things were different at the Kingston's house:

I had to use the basement if I wanted to shower (only a tub was upstairs in the bathroom near the bedroom; teenage girls have very particular grooming rituals.).
They liked to keep the heat turned wayyyy down.
There was a daily menu for breakfast: Mondays were always pancakes, Tuesdays always eggs, etc.
Nothing in the house was mine or recalled my family, except my clothes and books.
My sister was gone (she had just moved to live with my Dad on the other side of the country. Times were hard).

If it wasn't almost 20 years ago I'm sure I could remember more, but what remains is the generosity that came with our neighbors taking in a crabby 14 year old and her mother. Although it was an emotional and stressful time in our family, the help of a roof, food, and friendship from the Kingstons will never be forgotten.

(Image: Home Sweet Home print by vol25, available at Etsy for $20.)

Comments (4)

This happened to me (and I'm sure many others) as I lived with relatives during my college years.

At the time I severely missed home and felt some of these relatives' habits were strange.

But in hindsight, I am also eternally grateful for welcoming me in their home.

posted by calkite7 on December 18th 2008 at 5:25pm
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LOVE Jessilynn's print, way to go :)

posted by dsigninslc on December 18th 2008 at 7:53pm
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Thanks for sharing your story and for featuring my print! :)

posted by volume25 on December 19th 2008 at 12:37am
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We did renovations before moving in to our new home, but (surprise!) they weren't ready in time and we had to move out of our apartment. We planned to stay with my in-laws just for a week till the floors were done and then we'd live in the construction, despite the fact that I was 7.5 months pregnant. We thought living there would put a fire under the contractors, um, feet.
After a week at my in-laws we finally moved into our house. We were so excited to finally be there, even though construction was still everywhere.
We lied in bed and marveled at how big our new bedroom was and then went to sleep. 2 hours later I went into labor. We went to the hospital and my daughter was born the next morning- 3.5 weeks early. After that the 3 of us went back to my in-laws where we lived for the next *3 months* while they finished the house.
Living with my in-laws for the first 3 months of my daughters life was very challenging. Just learning how babies 'worked' and adjusting to that transition in someone else's home was harder in some ways and easier in others. I was blessed with great in-laws and they never made us feel anything less than welcome, and they loved having their new granddaughter around, but it's still hard knowing you are imposing on someone else's space, habits and all that. I didn't realize until recently, when my younger sister moved in with us- how obvious someone else's presence is in your home when you're used to things being a certain way.
Makes me appreciate my in-laws even more.

posted by teeze on December 19th 2008 at 1:38am
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