*disclaimer for the dense: 'daft' is a British way of saying 'silly' in a good-natured kind of way.  Read on, and you'll see why I'm saying it*

My mum is coming to visit us next spring.  We're really happy and excited to have her come and visit, it'll be the first time in a decade that we've seen her.  She knows that we're excited about it, but she's being very British and very polite about the whole thing

First of all, she asked 'do you think it'd be okay if I came to visit?' - to which we said, 'of course it is, you daft thing'. 

Then I got an email from my big brother today saying that the best priced flights are close to Easter and it looks like a 16 day stay would give her the most bang for her buck, but that mum's been worrying about not wanting to 'outstay her welcome'.

As if. 

Dave just gave me this look when I told him, like he didn't understand why she was worrying about it.  Then again, he didn't understand why she asked if she could come and visit.

When we were telling someone about it this afternoon Dave put his arm around me and said 'her mum could stay the rest of her life and she wouldn't have outstayed her welcome' which made me get all teary, but it's TRUE - mum is more than welcome here for however long she wants to stay.

So I shot off an email to my brother, telling him to tell mum 'you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you like, you daft thing'.

Oh the uber-politeness of the British.  It even transcends familial bonds.