S's parents are in town. They're staying up with S's brother (who has moved into a duplex after he and his wife separated) for a little over a week, and then they're coming down here for a week or so. Thus far, I still have a good attitude about it. However, this year there are mitigating factors that didn't exist last year:
- Last year there were EIGHT freaking people staying with us for two weeks. And 6 of them essentially invited themselves.
- We had moved in 6 months previously and still had a very long to-do list (we still do, but we're down to the big expensive things now).
- We canceled cable this year. No more Fox News!!!! YES!!!! Since that's pretty much all S's parents watch (at epic volume), I will be so so sad not to hear any yelling from the TV and toward the TV. :-)
- The bragging. I seriously do not understand why parents of multiple children brag about their other children toward the inferior child. If that isn't what it is, it's really what it feels like. We get to hear about the saintly brother and sister and how wonderful THEY are doing. At least this year, with brother-in-law cheating on sister-in-law (against the Catholic church, mind you), either they are going to have some really good spin or the bragging about S's brother will ebb a bit. They will likely overcompensate by bragging about the sister, so I'm not sure we'll get around the whole "Your siblings rock, you suck" speeches.
- With S's father's double bypass, hopefully he's been eating better and feeling better, which means he might not be as edgy.
- I'm feeling slightly less edgy due to there being only 2 people coming (instead of 8), we've made more progress on the house, feeling a bit more settled in, etc.
Their ETA is only about a week away. I always feel like it's parents weekend at college. I want to pretend we don't live like heathens that eat dinner in bed most days and have perfectly kept up closets. Or at least create the illusion. With my mother, it's a foregone conclusion that I'm a horrible housekeeper. After all, I don't fold my dirty clothes. My mother folds her DIRTY clothes. Do most people do this? I think it's very weird, but she always has folded her dirty clothes. And she washes her dishes completely before she puts them in the dishwasher. I don't get it, never have, she doesn't understand how I can live so slovenly (although most people say I'm a tad on the compulsive side). Before S's parents arrive, we have to get the guest bedroom ready, the water saving shower head put on, the cobwebs removed, etc. And don't forget yardwork. I swear, after you turn 60, you begin to be obsessed with yards. S's family loves to critiques lawns like my mom loves to critique my dirty dishes and dirty clothes.
Next house: studio apartment, so no one can stay with us.
5 comments:
Sigh, not this again...
It reminds me of the times when my two cousins would come to sleep over for the weekend. My sister and I would always dread those weekends, because those kids would literally take up ALL of our time from waking up to going to bed, and we always had to be "doing something." By the time they left, we'd both be completely exhausted.
Entertaining does get old quickly. Fortunately since they lived here for a number of years, we are not subjected to endless sightseeing.
When you're out on your own, you have two options. You can visit your parents, or they can visit you. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I prefer having them visit since I get to sleep in my own bed, we have more space than they do, and it's our turf.
You're going to LOVE the first visit from your parents once you're out on your own, especially if it's a city they've never been to! ;)
Hm... I never even considered the possibility of my parents visiting me once I'm settled into my new home and career. Probably because I've been visiting them regularly since college, so they've never once come to Princeton in the 3 years that I've been here. I just kind of assumed that once I live in California or Seattle or wherever, that I'd still be the one to go back and visit them. But yeah, I guess they will probably want to visit at some point. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.
I forget that other families have their own traditions. It sounds like in your family that it's expected that you come home. In mine that wasn't the case. I wouldn't go "home" (well, it wasn't my home after I left it). The only alternative was that my mom came to see me. Even when she left for 3 years, I didn't go visit her. During that time she visited me.
I bet if you didn't come home after you graduated, they'd come to see you. Unless they hate traveling.
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