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I guess my disclaimer is that my in-laws are basically good, generous people; yet, whenever I am with them there is DRAMA.
This weekend DH, 10-mo-old DD, and I travelled about 2 1/2 hours away by car to attend a baby shower for one of my friends. After, we went about another hour to stay the night at my SIL's house. MIL and FIL were also there and we all went to brunch Sunday. They love DD, but somehow there are always little digs here and there, or perhaps I'm too sensitive.
DD is really in the throes of separation anxiety, which apparently MIL's kids never had (i.e. she has clearly forgotten it). MIL continues to tell me that Meredith must be this way because I stay at home with her. You would think that being a SAHM would make MIL (also a SAHM) happy, but I always get the impression she thinks it'd be better if I worked again, like I'm taking advantage of her son somehow. At any rate, several times over the weekend I got the "that baby seems permanently attached to your hip" and "can't you just put her down?" comments. Horrors! A baby attached to her mother! Don't these manipulative babies know that this is America and in America we are independent and cry in our playpens alone and LIKE it??? Not that they said this, but I sense that their inner monologue is not too far from that. Then, when Meredith couldn't nap in a strange place (hello!) I got all sorts of weird looks and yet another "can't you just put her down on a blanket in the corner and have her nap?" Um, gee, that'll work! Why have I never thought of that?
I also had a narrow escape regarding Meredith's wardrobe. Now, I always dress Meredith nicely and she has tons of dresses. However, on Father's Day I got her a cool two-piece pants set that said "Daddy's Girl." I also*just happened* to pack a dress in case of emergency and really only packed it b/c it was small when folded. When it was about time for Sunday brunch, I mentioned the dress, just saying it was cute or something (Meredith was wearing the pants) and MIL said "Oh, put her in the dress." She said this in a pretty condescending, critical way too. When I explained that the pants set said Daddy's Girl, she would have none of it and said Meredith looked like she was ready for the playground, not brunch. Argh. Believe it or not, I am a grown up and know that I should just do what I want AS WELL AS not mention that there's an option of a dress. Still, it irritates the heck out of me.
Finally, this last bit was not so much irritating as it was unnecessarily dramatic and embarrassing. We get to the hotel for brunch, and SIL asks for a high chair for Meredith before we are seated. We wait around for 10 minutes despite our reservation, and FIL is already getting steamed. When we arrive at our table, there is no high chair. SIL asks again. 5 minutes later, still no high chair. Now, I do get rather irked by such things, but my FIL goes from calm to psychotic in 2 seconds flat. MIL says to SIL, "they need a man to ask for it" and SIL says "I don't accept that." MIL is then VERY snippy and says "well, you better accept it, it's the way the world is!" While I'm listening to this drama, I see that FIL is away from the table, pointing at someone else's table where there are two high chairs not being used. I don't even see everything going on, but he screams (LOUD!!!) at the waiter and, he claims, the waiter threw the high chair at him. Yikes.
Now, he has our best interests at heart, here, but it's still unbelievable that there's always some such scene. What's even funnier is that my in-laws are otherwise very refined (some might say uppity and snobby) who attend galas all the time. Yet my FIL loses it like this all the time.
Anywho, I feel better now. With my cleansing ritual over . . . anyone have any Father's Day vents? Or just general in-law vents?
This weekend DH, 10-mo-old DD, and I travelled about 2 1/2 hours away by car to attend a baby shower for one of my friends. After, we went about another hour to stay the night at my SIL's house. MIL and FIL were also there and we all went to brunch Sunday. They love DD, but somehow there are always little digs here and there, or perhaps I'm too sensitive.
DD is really in the throes of separation anxiety, which apparently MIL's kids never had (i.e. she has clearly forgotten it). MIL continues to tell me that Meredith must be this way because I stay at home with her. You would think that being a SAHM would make MIL (also a SAHM) happy, but I always get the impression she thinks it'd be better if I worked again, like I'm taking advantage of her son somehow. At any rate, several times over the weekend I got the "that baby seems permanently attached to your hip" and "can't you just put her down?" comments. Horrors! A baby attached to her mother! Don't these manipulative babies know that this is America and in America we are independent and cry in our playpens alone and LIKE it??? Not that they said this, but I sense that their inner monologue is not too far from that. Then, when Meredith couldn't nap in a strange place (hello!) I got all sorts of weird looks and yet another "can't you just put her down on a blanket in the corner and have her nap?" Um, gee, that'll work! Why have I never thought of that?
I also had a narrow escape regarding Meredith's wardrobe. Now, I always dress Meredith nicely and she has tons of dresses. However, on Father's Day I got her a cool two-piece pants set that said "Daddy's Girl." I also*just happened* to pack a dress in case of emergency and really only packed it b/c it was small when folded. When it was about time for Sunday brunch, I mentioned the dress, just saying it was cute or something (Meredith was wearing the pants) and MIL said "Oh, put her in the dress." She said this in a pretty condescending, critical way too. When I explained that the pants set said Daddy's Girl, she would have none of it and said Meredith looked like she was ready for the playground, not brunch. Argh. Believe it or not, I am a grown up and know that I should just do what I want AS WELL AS not mention that there's an option of a dress. Still, it irritates the heck out of me.
Finally, this last bit was not so much irritating as it was unnecessarily dramatic and embarrassing. We get to the hotel for brunch, and SIL asks for a high chair for Meredith before we are seated. We wait around for 10 minutes despite our reservation, and FIL is already getting steamed. When we arrive at our table, there is no high chair. SIL asks again. 5 minutes later, still no high chair. Now, I do get rather irked by such things, but my FIL goes from calm to psychotic in 2 seconds flat. MIL says to SIL, "they need a man to ask for it" and SIL says "I don't accept that." MIL is then VERY snippy and says "well, you better accept it, it's the way the world is!" While I'm listening to this drama, I see that FIL is away from the table, pointing at someone else's table where there are two high chairs not being used. I don't even see everything going on, but he screams (LOUD!!!) at the waiter and, he claims, the waiter threw the high chair at him. Yikes.
Now, he has our best interests at heart, here, but it's still unbelievable that there's always some such scene. What's even funnier is that my in-laws are otherwise very refined (some might say uppity and snobby) who attend galas all the time. Yet my FIL loses it like this all the time.
Anywho, I feel better now. With my cleansing ritual over . . . anyone have any Father's Day vents? Or just general in-law vents?
