Parenting Guru: We give thanks for eviction...

We recently got kicked out of our apartment.

What could we possible have done to merit such treatment? We always paid our rent on time. We kept our apartment clean and in good condition. We were quiet. Well, as quiet as a family of six can be.

No, the reason we got kicked out of our apartment was because we dared to ask our landlord not to raise our rent for the third year in a row. When he refused that request, we wondered if he could change our lease ending date to fit better with our school schedule.

Apparently this kind of behavior is unforgivable because this was the breaking point for our landlord. He told us he was refusing to renew our lease and we needed to find a new place to live.

We had one week to find an affordable place large enough for a mom not to go crazy when stuck inside during the long winter months with four energetic children.

Miraculously, my husband found a large condo that was available for rent thanks to the bad housing market. Even more miraculously, the rent was lower than the rent of our current apartment.

Our previous apartment was sizable enough but it was very old, and the landlord had little to no interest in making any kind of improvements or even fixing anything that broke.

Now, I feel like I live in magazine. As you can see from the picture, the kitchen is perfect of cooking gourmet meals (if I had that kind of ability). Now the kids can "help" me in the kitchen without me feeling like I want to pull my hair out. There is even a place for them to work on their homework while I cook or clean up supper.

For the first time in our married lives, my husband and I have more than one bathroom. The kids have a fenced in backyard in which to play safely, without me having to sit outside with them. My student husband even has a study so he can work at home now.

I never dreamed that I would approach this Thanksgiving feeling thankful for getting evicted. Instead of a terrible nightmare, we have found our "dream come true."

This Thanksgiving, I can even (almost) feel thankful for our crabby landlord!

You can read more about Melanie's life with four kids at her personal blog, tales from the crib.