The In-Laws are Coming, the In-Laws are Coming....

What's the old adage, 'one if by land, two if by sea'?  We've been gently invaded by my precious in-laws, the genetic geniuses who spawned my awesome husband and then lost their ever-loving minds and let me marry him (what were they thinking?).  They've come down to visit for a few days and we have all been jumping up and down with excitement.  The kids adore their MiMi and PaPa...and I frankly can use the extra help.

I'll have to post about my incredible mother-in-law at some point, but I do have to tell you, without getting all Greek tragedy-esque, that I am crazy, crazy for my father-in-law.  I knew that M might be the one, but the deal was sealed when I went home with M for the first time and saw this amazing visage...my father-in-law ironing.  And not just ironing....carefully ironing, with starch and water.  Ironing a blouse for my mother-in-law.  It was an incredible moment.  I still get a little shiver just thinking about it.


But the weekend wasn't over.  Oh no.  I then saw this man clean.a.kitchen.  Clean it top to bottom.  Clean the eyes on the stove.  Sweep every crumb from every corner.  Polish.the.kitchen.faucet.  And no one was telling him to do this.  No one was having to explain it to him.  I deduced that he actually had done this before, had done it often, had a personal standard for this type of thing.  Magic.

It sealed the deal.  I figured if this man had raised the college boy that I was madly in love with, then there was a good chance that said gorgeous college boy might also exhibit some of the same talent, some of the same ability.  Something in my reptilian future housekeeping brain saw the future of husband participation in household chores and it looked bright.

It skipped a generation.

But my guy does make pretty babies, so it's okay.

But I do, do love when my father-in-law comes to see me.  He's the compassionate, quiet, kitchen cleaner to my soul.  He can sterilize a microwave and return it to factory condition.  He makes omelets every morning for the kids and cleans out the crumb-trapping groves in the kitchen table and he.polishes.the.faucet.  Every day.  Every time he visits. These are not his only attributes.  He's a great listener, an incredible father, a marvelous grandfather, an adoring husband.  He's a leader in his church through his quiet example.  He will play Battleship with the grandkids for hours on end.  He retired after many decades as an elementary school principal.  Perfect PaPa material.

And he let me marry his son.

Crazy guy.

I heart my father-in-law...but not in a Greek tragedy way...you know what I  mean...

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