I found out about a few things the day before all the grandparents left...things that made me want to go ballistic on all of them, lol! My dad decided to share with me (my parents and I had lunch while everyone else went to play in the snow) that he and my in-laws had a table-talk and concerns had been expressed ;) big surprise!! I should have stopped him right then, knowing that this was his way of rabble-rousing, but I let him continue...
Concerns mentioned are really nothing new- oldest son's hair length, weight, how much _______ the boys do, what they eat, that we don't all sit at the table and eat together when they're in town (not that all 10 of us would fit around my small table, but I digress...), how my oldest doesn't sit around reading all the time (which is interesting, considering that they say he's not active enough)...that the boys have too many toys, video games, etc. That they are "spoiled".
All of this fodder just gets me steamed! And takes me away from MY reality...that life is good, all is well, and we're doing just fine, thank you!! :)
When I spoke with DH about it, he said that he'd gotten the full-court press from his mom on the way to pick up his sis from the airport. He listened and answered that he appreciates her input, and we're happy with the way we do things, thank you! She started in a couple more times and he finally told her that he heard her, and she needed to drop it. So she did (except for to my sis-in-law and my parents...)
DH is talking about sending out an email right before we see them all next (July) and laying down some guidelines of how we'd like concerns to be addressed in the future :) and how the sneaking around, gossiping, etc. doesn't work with us....it was really hard to be kind that last day of their visit. I was shaking. Good thing I have lots of tools to use to get this kind of stuff out of my system! I guess any time you do things differently, there will be dissent.
So, as I close out this year, I'm going to use this contrast to focus in on what I really DO want! (and blog about that tomorrow, maybe)...
PS- Declan asked his dad to take him to get a haircut today... with no input from anyone (that I know of). I love that he can make those choices for himself...
