The pros and cons of moving back with your parents

Well, we're nearing the end of the first week living with my parents. It's been pretty ok, actually. But maybe it's because we're in the phase like when you first are dating someone and you don't want to start anything so you tread softly until you figure out how they work. I've been keeping a mental tally of the pros and cons so far. Please to enjoy.

Pros

- Two more people living in the house means two more people to help with L. Bonus points for these two more people being doting grandparents who think their grandson is the second coming of Jesus Himself. (Ok, not quite to that extreme. Maybe more like John the Baptist or St. Luke or someone.)

- Two words: Cleaning. Lady. She's already come once since we've been here, and I underestimated the general awesomeness. And believe me, I was definitely estimating a lot of awesomeness. I can't begin to explain to you how cool it is to walk into the house and realize that it smells all clean and is all straightened up. Even cooler is knowing that you didn't have to lift a single finger to get the house to that state.

- A huge back yard means that Conner can run around as much as his little doggy heart desires and that he can get all his crazy energy out so that we don't have to deal with it.

- A much bigger bathroom for our use. It has two sinks in it, which means D and I can get ready for bed at the same time without bickering. And belive me, this happened every single night in the old house. If you want to see how fast something can get old, I suggest you share a closet-sized bathroom with your husband who repeatedly dumps out your cup of cold water that you specifically filled to use for rinsing your mouth so you could run the hot water to wash your face. Then, for good measure, make sure your husband teases and nags you about how long you brush your teeth for, even though you haven't had a cavity since your age was in the single digits.

Cons

- I can't walk around in my underwear anymore. I mean, I knew the clock on this one was ticking since it's a bit creepy to walk around in your underwear in front of your kid when they're older (especially when your kid is a son). But I thought I had more time. And not like I do this all the time, but it's annoying when it's stifling hot in your room and you have to go to the bathroom but you have to put on pants in case you run into your dad in the hall.

- Thermostat battles. I have to admit, I saw this one coming down the line. My parents and I were always fundamentally different with our views on what a good temperature is for the house. In the winter, they keep their house cold. In the summer, the air is off unless it's hovering around 90. The cold house in the winter is something I can deal with. I especially love cold houses at night because I love, love, love snuggling under my covers and not waking up soaked in sweat. But the hot house in the summer is a difficult adjustment, especially since even when the air is on, it doesn't really get upstairs to the bedrooms. The ceiling fans are moderately helpful, but only so much. This also goes back to the not being able to walk around in my underwear issue.

- A drastic decrease in the amount of space to put things. This speaks for itself, as do the boxes that are piled up in the garage and our bedroom.

Neutral

- A different cable company. Cons: Having to learn different channel numbers, not being able to pause on any other tv than the one in my parents' living room. Pros: When you fast forward recorded tv, no matter where you stop it once you get to your show, it automatically takes you back to where the last commercial ends and the show begins. This pro is enough to outweigh all the cons. So I guess if I was being honest, I'd have to put different cable company in the pro column. But I won't. Because I still can't remember what channel Bravo is.