Three generations under one roof: how’s that working out?
Helen
As a single parent, I couldn’t get a mortgage. Meanwhile, my parents were having trouble selling their house, so me moving in seemed like it could work; we have a good relationship and we discussed what to do if it didn’t.
We added an en suite to my parents’ bedroom, converted the garage into a living room for me and we share the kitchen and dining room.
Mum cooks during the week and I do it at the weekend; we all eat together.
My daughter is really close to my parents, which is lovely, and being a single parent can be lonely so it’s nice to have the company. I think the only thing we fell out over was Mum rearranging the way I’d put washing on the drying rack.
It won’t always be the four of us living together, but I will certainly cherish this period of my life for ever.
Jenny
Stuart and I had no reservations at all and it has worked out perfectly. We were looking for something smaller and now we have that. It also made it so much easier to help with childcare, though we were always happy to go round the corner. Now we’re all here together and there’s no doubt our granddaughter keeps us young as she’s so full of life.
Some of my friends say you couldn’t pay them enough to live with their daughters, but we love the company. We now have three bathrooms – perfect for when we have a teenager in the house. Helen works one day from home and three days in the office, so Stuart does the pickup from school those days. Helen and I watch television together and it all feels very relaxed and comfortable.
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