Smile For The Camera

At a family dinner with my husband’s extended family, they wanted to get a picture of all the great grandkids – about 15 total.  Mine are 2 and 4, not the youngest and certainly not the oldest.  They wanted them to stand shortest to tallest.  Considering my children have only met these cousins maybe 3 times in their short lives, they were not very comfortable with them.  My 4 year old was crying that she did not want to stand with kids she did not know.  My MIL got right in her face and told her that sometimes she needed to do things she didn’t want to do, and that she’d better “put her family’s wants and needs in front of her own wants and needs.”  Then she leaned in even closer and cruelly said “So suck it up!”

I don’t know why, but my MIL always shocks me speechless.  I don’t say anything, and then kick myself later.  But really, how do you respond to something like that?  Help!

Extreme Favoritism: Mother-In-Law Edition

My sister’s MIL only liked two of her five grandchildren.  My niece was the number one favorite.  She could do no wrong with the grandmother and grandfather.  They took her on exotic trips like Jamaica and Hawai’i.  They bought her Halloween presents and just because presents.  They bought expensive and over the top Christmas and Easter presents. 

This caused a lot of difficulty because my niece did have a big brother.  They did almost nothing for him.  He’d get a book for Christmas.  Granted he liked books, but when you compare what she would get to a book… it wasn’t equitable at all.  (Not that I think you have to match dollar for dollar, because the thought that counts and all that but when the kids are 4 and 9, you kind of have to at least seem balanced).  They wouldn’t get him the other types of presents. 

And to make matters worse, ex-BIL would give the presents to the daughter despite the fact that there wasn’t a present for the son.  So my parents were frequently finding themselves making up for Lou and Papa Doc (is it at all weird that his favored grandfather name is the same one that a Haitian dictator whose regime supported state-sponsored terrorism used?).  The whole thing was just ridiculous.