Going to live with grandma

Fed up with life as she knows it as a 5-year-old in a house with a new sweet-but-noisy baby, a precocious-but-busy little sister and a mommy and daddy who are occupied with settling into a new life with three small children, my granddaughter Adell recently announced she was "outta here."
She came up the stairs with her most important possessions in her arms, piled them by the door and told her mom she was going to live with grandma.

Adell in the middle of sisters

She had it all worked out in her young mind.
Here she had a younger sister who annoys her, a baby sister who cries a lot, a tired and sometimes crabby mommy and a daddy who is always at work.
At grandma's she can do what she wants when she wants and she likes the colors better at grandma's too.
In Adell's mind, it made perfect sense.
Grandma and Grandpa have the room and the toys and she likes it at our house.
It never occurred to her that there would be any sort of problem on our side with her moving in to stay.
She told her mother she knew she would be welcome. "They love me," she assured her. (We're glad she knows that.)
It took Kari a little while to convince Adell that she needed to stay with the family. She hugged her and told her she knew things were hard right now because the new baby is taking so much of mom's time. She reasoned with her, helping her see she is a valuable part of their family.
She also mentioned that while Grandma is fun for the short term she might get a little testy over the long haul. (What does she remember?)
Adell relented a bit and agreed to give it some more time. For now, she's staying.
She hasn't said anything to us about the deal. She seems as happy and content as ever.
But Kari says her clothes and toys are still piled by the doorway ready to go.