Mother In-Law Coming...

dude, you've been married for 11 years and no MIL visit? you have nothing to worry about. especially if it'll be another 11 years. I'm totally jaded on this subject. I too have a very "loving" SIL...they like to put my hubby in the middle. I know the whole wanna make good impression...but she's HIS mama so ask HIM what he thinks needs to be done. Chances are if he's happy in his home, then it's not too farfetched to think that she will be comfy there too, or that it's similar to hers. then all you have to do is worry about holding your tounge. you have 4 kids...give them each a box and pack up stuff that's cluttering your main traffic areas...then hide the boxes in a closet/attic to go thru after the holiday barrage. that's what we do. as far as decorating...let the kids draw her welcome pictures....then they're authentic and cheap. oh girl, my heart goes out to you. msg me back, I'll keep thinking of simple easy fast cheap stuff...my main thought though is that: this is you and your family, don't work yourself soooo hard that you're tired or sick by the time she gets here...be proud of what you have and who yall are, skip the facades...she might not like those either. if ya can't please everyone...ya gotta please yourself...Dee dee dee dee...(remember Crosby, Stills, Nash song)and uh your hubby.

I would get the kids involved and have any that can help do so. Give them each a task they can be proud of their work. DECLUTTER.....give them each a bag and tell them they are making room for new Christmas toys and clothes and help them fill the bag and explain how you are going to donate it to kids that don't have many toys. Take to goodwill...great write off before the end of year too!

I think that a great smelling CANDLE just makes people feel so great and comfortable. I would get a good one that really puts out a great scent. (bean pod and yankee are great)

If she is staying at your house I would try and make her area that she is staying extra special. A cute basket with lotion, magazine or reading material any special items would make her feel welcomed. Write a note with her name on it and tell her how excited you all are to see her and let the kids sign it. (if you're on a budget find a container/basket at home, put a cute ribbon on it and have the kids each make a card for her)

Also, if you really want to go over the top find out what her favorite dish/meal is and preapare it for her.

Little stuff like this will leave her feeling great about the stay even if you don't have the best decor or fanciest house! It will also freak your sister in law out that you were so nice and really went out of your way!! (and we love to freak them out) ;-)

Also, if you really want to go over the top find out what her favorite dish/meal is and preapare it for her.

Here's my suggestion:

Rather than worry about the over-all impression, why not try to make her "space" really cozy and special. Where is she staying? If it's a guest room, make it completely special in there, as though it's a bed and breakfast. If the room isn't already fixed up cute, splurge on a new bedspread, completely hide all the clutter in the room, and put a vase of fresh flowers in the room for her arrival. Make sure her bathroom space is clean and uncluttered, even if it's a shared bathroom, and maybe put up some new hand towels, or some of those cute little sample size shampoos, bath oils, etc. to make her feel pampered. Call before she comes and ask her what her favorite breakfast cereals, juices, and other foods are, and have them for her.

Whether your home is perfect or not, if you've gone the distance to make her feel welcome, special and wanted, she'll feel it and the impression you make - AND the visit - will be perfect.

How about hiring some neighborhood teenagers or college students to help you out for this crisis? Education majors are usually good at getting kids organized. They are probably looking for some holiday cash about now. Then after this crisis is over, take a look at flylady.net. Most importantly, don't get too worked up about it. Hopefully, she is coming to see you and her grandkids, not to judge you. If she makes a stink about how you live, let her clean it up!!!:) How about a rented storage unit if you really need to hide a lot of stuff?

If you need help with gift wrapping, I cut and pasted this information:

Greater Tulsa Area Alumnae of Alpha Phi is raising money by wrapping gifts. You may provide your own paper to coordinate with your own decor, or choose ours.

Bring your gifts to The Game Shop in the Farm Shopping Center at 51st and Sheridan on
Friday December 15th,
Thursday, December 21 and
Friday, December 22
between 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

I agree with Sandy about making her own space special and cozy. My in-laws live in another country, too. Some things we always do for them are put fresh flowers and a little basket of small chocolates in their room. A trick I learned from a friend that is especially nice for international visitors is to have easy-to-eat food available during the night, when jet-lag will probably set in and they could be hungry. Keep in mind that some cultures are not as comfortable with "help yourself" as we Americans are, so maybe your husband could encourage her to do so if necessary. We also keep a lot of bottled water on hand, and make sure guests have some in their rooms at night before they go to bed. Which makes me think of something else. A lot of countries don't have/use as much ice as we do, and my in-laws can't stand drinks as cold as we tend to like them here. Everywhere we go, they have me order drinks for them without ice . . . so you may want to find out your mother-in-law's preference before offering her drinks. Once she sees your genuine hospitality and care for her needs, she won't be able to think anything other than that you are a caring, considerate daughter-in-law!

Good luck!

Unfortunatley, there are no shortcuts for a mom-in-law visit. First, brake out the lemon oil and an old sock. It turns all your wood brand new again for a few or more days.(Cabinets, furniture, base boards). If you havent tried a magic eraser, get one. Honest to God its the best thing. It wont take off paint on walls. I could go on for days about cleaning, but these few things might help.

I think everyone has given great advice with making her a space etc. I don't know how bad you feel you need to declutter/organize/clean whatever but FLYlady has a great crisis cleaning system (this is like if the house is a mess and you have company coming to dinner) and great decluttering and organization tips. I believe the website is flylady.net but I could be wrong. You could probably google it too if you needed to. I seriously need to get back to doing the FLYlady routines if I expect to have any resmeblence to a clean house while I'm in school.