Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Get a Load of This

OK, I swear I'll stop with the "get" titles because I'm rolling my eyes at myself at this point. Anyway.

So, my sister-in-law called the other morning. Now, in general, I HATE when my husband's family calls at times they KNOW he's not home. I have nothing to discuss with these people, and we have these horrifically fake conversations where we pretend to care about each other and blah blah, and it's wildly uncomfortable and, frankly, boring. Right, so she calls, and the sole purpose of her call is to tell me that, in response to our news, my mother in law is "hysterical." She just sits there sobbing, "It can't be true, no, no, he's smart."

How does she annoy me? Let me count the ways.

First off, there's the simple fact that I, as the MOTHER OF THE CHILD IN QUESTION, have clearly claimed first right of refusal on any drama-queen-type hand wringing. Let's just clear that up, shall we? Beyond that, there's the whole, "Let's stay in denial because it's such a comfortable place to hang out." The woman did this with her own kids, in one way or another, and she caused serious, irreverable harm to one of them by doing so. And let's not even TOUCH on the fact that my kid can't POSSIBLY be both smart AND affected.

Ick.

Now, ok, some of you may be thinking, "Come on, WG, cut the woman some slack. I mean, it's her grandson you're talking about here. She obviously loves him." Yeah, I know she loves him, but she loves playing drama queen more. You know what? Dollars to doughnuts my parents are hurting right now. But neither they, nor my siblings, have felt the need to call and tell me how badly THEY are suffering. Because you know what? I don't need to hear it. Not now, probably not ever. You want to sit and sob? Fine. CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR. I got enough crap to deal with right now, you know?

4 comments:

The Queen Mama said...

I hear you about the calls from the in-laws. I have a SIL who sometimes does this. I like her a lot, she's a nice person. Really. But she's only had one child, who is now grown, and always seems to call at precisely the highest point of chaos during the day. Sheesh. I don't think I talk to my OWN sister so much!

Start screening your calls.

I'm sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis (or is it a lack of diagnosis at this point?) My second and third boys were both born prematurely (at 35 weeks), and thank God, neither of them have suffered any long-term effects. And no, a NICU is not a fun place to be.

I will be thinking of you and your family. Hope things get better.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

In laws can be really horrible people. It's all about them, they think. My parent's in law are no longer with us, but when they were they were the most interfering people I have ever met. You couldn't talk to them about anything, as it was always turned around to them. Don't let them get to you, you have enough to deal with (I know it's easy to say, sorry !). Just know that what you are doing, you are doing the best way you know how, and it is the right way for you. Bad luck what anyone else thinks. It is your life, not theirs.
Take care, Meow

Anonymous said...

What queen mama said. Screen those calls. I hate to say "let your husband deal with them," but.... let your husband deal with them. You don't need them bringing you down!

moplans said...

holy crap we are like identical twins