My brother behaved atrociously over Christmas.
We're both in our 40s, I'm a few years older than he is. I'm married, I have friends, I enjoy company and would describe myself as sociable. My brother (let's call him John) has always led a solitary life. He's deeply religious, but doesn't appear to socialise with his church group, he lives alone, works alone, and to the best of my knowledge has never had a relationship and never mentions any friends. Over the years he's got more and more anti-social and intolerant, and his social skills are very poor. We only see him at Christmas, he lives in a different city, and there's only sporadic text contact the rest of the year.
I'm the only member of our family who will have him for Christmas, Mum died 10 years ago and he doesn't get on with Dad. I can't blame other people for not wanting a bad tempered, judgemental individual for the festive season, and I only invite him out of duty these days - I've given up trying to encourage him to be cheerful/sociable, and am getting fed up of his negative demeanour.
DH and I had the chance to go away for a few days over Christmas, I agonised over whether to invite John, but didn't have the heart to leave him alone over Christmas, so I invited him along. He seemed pleased, and I crossed my fingers and hoped for a pleasant few days.
Silly me. He was terse, unpleasant, wouldn't speak unless spoken to, made a huge fuss about denouncing alcohol, and in the end DH lost his temper, told him a few home truths, that I always try my best to include him, and he can't even be remotely pleasant. He was slightly better after that, no more snapping, but he still continued to be derisive, judgmental and negative.
But I was at the end of my tether by the time we got home - and I've resolved to have a John-free Christmas next year. Why should I put up with this just because we have the same parents? Please tell me it's ok to bin toxic relatives? Surely it can't fall on DH and I every year, where do our responsibilities end?
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
AIBU?
Do I really need to have difficult brother for Christmas ever again?
63 replies
NearlyMonday · 30/12/2016 17:18
OP posts:
LindyHemming ·
30/12/2016 17:35
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.