Spending Time with Terry's Mom

One of the nicest things about having a Taiwanese husband whose mom re-married a Caucasian man is that she is conveniently Asian or Western, depending on the situation. Most of you who know Asian culture know that when your parents come for a visit, it’s not for just a week. These visits typically span MONTHS at a time. Recognizing that we may need a hand, Nai-Nai (Terry’s mom…Chinese for grandma) graciously agreed to change her schedule and come to Taiwan for the entire month of October. However, having lived in the USA for the past 30 years and knowing that she and I enjoy a fabulous relationship, she also recognized that staying in our small apartment for the whole month may cause a few issues. Hence, she has been staying with friends Monday through Thursday and coming to our home on the weekends. How amazingly perceptive and wise she can be sometimes!

This has worked beautifully. While we don’t have an extra room for her, she is quite comfortable on our couch, and especially appreciates the TV options here in Taiwan (LOL). For me, I get to come home and find that my dishes have magically been washed, and my laundry has magically been folded. She’s also been very helpful at the market…buying all kinds of food I would never have tried on my own!

Watching the girls’ reaction to her stay has been especially endearing. Brianna, in particular, seems to understand the value of having her grandma (Nai-Nai) here. During our walks together, Brianna frequently walks with Nai-Nai, holding her hand. Brianna was the first to volunteer up her pillow to Nai-Nai…even her blanket! One evening, Brianna became a bit frightened as Terry and I went out for a walk. She decided to come into the family room and sleep on the chair next to Nai-Nai. She was very comfortable and was upset in the morning that we had moved her.

We enjoyed a trip to Nai-Nai’s home town of Dansui, which can be seen highlighted in the old movie, Sayanara, with Marlon Brando. Nai-Nai enjoyed showing us her old stomping grounds, sampling all the food options, and enjoying spoiling the girls with little treats here and there. While Elaine enjoys her here, Brianna seems to really take this time with Nai-Nai to heart. It’s been very charming to watch all of this transpire.

Like all mother-in-laws, of course there are down-sides. For example, tonight Brianna came home with a fever. She’s clearly not feeling well; and to top it all off, her teacher was confirmed with the H1N1 virus last Thursday (8 days ago). He came back on Wednesday, free and clear; however, there was one other confirmed case in her class. Of course, we are all concerned. Unfortunately, we handle this concern in different ways, which can be frustrating. I’m thankful that we want the same thing; however, it can be a challenge trying to deal with a sick child and wind my way through the medical system. Nai-Nai’s approach, which is simply…’take her to the emergency room’ doesn’t really work for me. I’ll keep you all posted. Thankfully, the fever is not too high, so we’re hopeful that Brianna’s amazing immune system will conquer her illness quickly.

Shopping with Nai-Nai is quite the challenge as well. Nai-Nai is among Taipei’s ‘slow-walkers’ (I’ll blog about this another day)…and more slow than most. I found out the hard way that I have to set aside the entire morning to go to the market. What I thought would be a 30-minute trip to the market to buy some beef turned into a 3-hour shopping excursion. My refrigerator is now stocked full of bizarre foods I’m not confident we’ll all eat! In all fairness, I did receive a wonderful lunch, her treat, in return.

All in all, given the down-side of having an opinionated, strong-minded, conveniently Asian mother-in-law stay with us….I wouldn’t have it any other way.