Mum's coming

I've finally asked my mum to come over to help out for a while. She'd been hinting of lending a hand for the longest of time but I'd always declined. Adrian, too, was always telling me we should get her to come over. I mean, who wouldn't jump at the chance to get some help, right? For me, I have many concerns. Both my mum and I have strong characters. I don't want to get into bickers with her over domestic and childraising matters here. She's an extremely tidy, neat and organised person while I'm not. She's afraid of cold so the weather doesn't really suit her. A born worrier, she gets jittery easily whereas I'm more laid back.

Adrian told me these 2 months are going to be very crucial for his work. The reason we came here was for him to work on his PhD and complete his research ASAP. It's tough for an unmarried person to study for a PhD, let alone one who has a family to look after at the same time. I totally understand his difficult position and circumstances though he doesn't think that I do. We've come this far and I certainly wouldn't want to delay him or see him fail. These are certainly the last things on my mind. So I thought long and hard. Since the priority is for him to finish his work, thus getting his PhD before the money runs out, I've asked my mum to come and she'd agreed. She's terribly excited right now. The plan is for her to come end of next week and she'll stay for a month. As she's giving tuition, she has to get back before the mid-year exams, hence, can't stay any longer than that. My dad has just retired and feels quite lost at the moment so I've asked him to come too. He told me he can't stay longer than 2 weeks. He's not one who can be away from home for too long. He's got his fishes to look after, he loves the local food, the Chinese newspaper and Mandarin TV programmes. The only thing he can do here is gardening and cook, which he loves. I'm worried about him being alone at home when my mum comes. But he feels it's a waste of money to come if it's just for 2 weeks.

Now to the bright side of things. When my mum comes, I can work on my computer in the day and not feel much guilt. She'll be able to teach the girls some Mandarin though I doubt they'll learn much in a month. Being a good housekeeper (my mum, that is), my house will always be neat and tidy, spick and span. I won't have to cook all the meals as she'll be more than happy to share the chore. Not having to worry about waking up early in the morning with the girls, I can go into a scrapbooking frenzy at night (I'm a nocturnal person). If Adrian bullys me, I've got someone behind me...hehehe. And if we ever get on each other's nerves, she can stay with my sister, Jean, for a day or two in order to let us calm down. Oh! I'm such a bad daughter, mother and wife.