Moving On Up. Maybe.

It's entirely possible that I've completely lost my mind. Not that this comes as a surprise to anyone who knows me.

We told my mom yesterday that we're kinda sorta possibly perhaps thinking about considering moving up to her side of town. Yes, we told her that. Which means we might as well start packing now because Mom doesn't see the "kinda sorta, ... etc." part of the sentence. To her it reads as, "We're moving up to her side of town," so it's a done deal.

When we weigh the pros and cons of moving there are a lot of pros. Free babysitting ranks right up there near the top. Dan would be closer to work. The schools up there are pretty good too--just take a look at me to see the superior product they turned out. Wait, my brother went to the same schools. Scratch that one. We'd be closer to help with my grandparents if they need anything. Daddy is right there to help Dan if something breaks. (Did you notice how I called him "Daddy" because it involved needing something from him? I'm such a Southern girl.) The whole family is nearby. In fact, that's also on the con list, just so you know! :-)

On the con list: In my current county, city, and house I am an adult. This is my house, the towels go where I SAY they go because I am the MAMA and I said so. Huh. I am the alpha dog, the queen bee, the... well, throw some other animal metaphor in there because I'm fresh out. You get the point--I act like a grown up here. But when I go back home to Mom and Dad's house? I immediately convert to a bratty fourteen year old girl when I cross the city limits. So clearly that'll have to change. I'll have to put on my big girl pants and learn to say things like...

• These are my kids and I'm raising them this way.

• We don't do that in my house.

• They've have enough sugar, Grama, stop feeding the monkeys.

• Seatbelts and booster seats are required by law and my kids will always wear them, no matter what.

• No, the kids can't go out on the boat with you yet, Grandpa, because they don't know how to SWIM.

• Because I'm the MAMA and I said so.

• No. (Somehow I have never figured out how to say this to my mom.)

I'll have to learn to accept advice graciously without seeing it as a slam against my parenting/cleaning/cooking style. Yeah, like I have a cooking style. That was a good one.

I'll have to learn to either clean my house better and more often or learn to handle comments about how messy it is. Or learn to say, "Yep, it's a mess and I don't care." Or even, "You're right it is a mess. Here's a Swiffer. Knock yourself out. "

We'll have to do the "Boundaries Talk" before we move up there. If we move up there. Because it's not a foregone conclusion. Really, MOM! We're just thinking about it. Because Dan might get transferred or promoted or something and we'd have to move again right after we get settled up there. I wouldn't want to move twice. Heck, I'm not even sure I want to move once. I hate moving. We've been in this house for almost ten years. Do you know how much STUFF we've accumulated in those years? The market stinks right now for sellers and we have a lot of work to do on our house before we could put it on the market. And I don't want to think about total strangers traipsing through my house.

I love my house, my neighborhood, my neighbors, all the parks nearby, and most things about my kids' school. I love this town. I'm getting a brand spankin' new SUPER TARGET that they're building just for me less than five minutes from my house, people! How can I even consider leaving the town that is kind enough to build me my very own SUPER TARGET. If it weren't for the six lane interstate running between me and my beloved brand new SUPER TARGET, I could WALK there!

So we have a lot to think about. Because WE ARE JUST THINKING ABOUT IT at this point. Honest.