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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be fed fed up of the guilt trip every weekend

49 replies

kalms1971 · 15/02/2014 22:41

Dh's parents expect a visit every weekend. Recently I have been refusing to do this. Have explained to them that my dad is in a dementia unit and have been fighting for funding to get him back home, plus the visiting by bus takes all day to get there and back. Our son has SEN so have frequent appointments and his behaviour is unpredictable. He is tired from school all week and he just wants to chill on Sunday mornings.Also nice to be able to do something as a family or see his best friend sometimes who goes to a different school. Dh just rang them and they said they are disappointed we not seeing them tomorrow. So now dh is asking me to see if we can visit them after all!!

OP posts:
natwebb79 · 16/02/2014 08:51

DG I'm guessing you also have a close relative with dementia who needs your attention, a DC with SEN who needs the opportunity to rest at the weekend to recover from a busy school week and a long bus ride to your daily visits? ?

MollyMakesMeWantToDance · 16/02/2014 09:13

I think they are being unreasonable given the circumstances. While you have all this going on with DF I can understand the need to relax on a Sunday.

However, you don't seem to indicate that they are genuinely horrible people. It doesn't seem like they are deliberately trying to ruin your weekend to me. They probably just really enjoy seeing their son, grandchild and daughter in law every week and, as you have done it for this long it is part of the routine.

Don't take them for granted, especially if they are generally very good to you :(

JoinYourPlayfellows · 16/02/2014 09:16

YANBU

WhereDoAllTheCalculatorsGo · 16/02/2014 10:41

bet you'll all be there for the will reading though
Nasty, nasty comment. What a fucking awful thing to say

ShatzePage · 16/02/2014 10:49

Yadnbu-we had this too. Inlaws expected us for dinner every weekend.Mil would moan and bitch if we did'nt go. It caused huge rows with dh and myself too.

Caitlin17 · 16/02/2014 10:54

Every week is extremely unreasonable.

DarlingGrace what a horrible comment.

caketinrosie · 16/02/2014 11:03

No YANBU. However darling grace your comments are very very U.
Op I would not give it a second thought. Visits are supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not a chore. I presume they are capable of travel? If so they should especially if they are so insistent on weekly visits. So sorry about everything you are dealing with. Thanks

GinSoakedMisery · 16/02/2014 11:07

Wow, thought the op was getting some really nice replies until I got to DarlingGrace's reply. Very unapt name btw.

Op, if they want to see you every weekend then ask them to alternate at least. You're going to wear yourself thin at this rate, have been there myself and it is very draining. Could your DH pick them up and bring them over if they don't live far?

Hope they listen to you or your DH about this.

crazykat · 16/02/2014 11:13

Every weekend is a bit much especially with that journey. We do see the ILs most weekends for an hour or so but DSD lives literally round the corner so unless we were going out for the day we usually call in when we pick her up.

We like to veg out at the weekend as the DCs are tired from school and DH works long hours in a physical job. No way would we use half our family time to go see the ILs or my parents every weekend.

Maybe83 · 16/02/2014 11:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pumpkinsweetie · 16/02/2014 11:18

yanbu, every weekend!!! Sounds like a chore if you ask me. Why do grown people have to set whole days in stone!

kalms1971 · 16/02/2014 11:22

They only have dh so expect a lot. I have a large family and spread myself thin. No will, no property btw

OP posts:
frogslegs35 · 16/02/2014 11:28

YANBU - every weekend is too much. I wouldn't commit to that.

If they drive, could you possibly manage an invite for a weekday dinner, once a week/fortnight? Obviously it would be dependant on if everyone was available but I'd rather that on my terms than feel forced to travel to them every week when I'd rather keep my weekends free for my immediate family.

Inertia · 16/02/2014 11:29

YANBU. If you have a child with SN and a parent in hospital then their needs come before other family members' visiting demands. And in any case, an all day bus journey every week is too much.

DarlingGrace your comments are nasty. It's easy to see family daily when they are 5 minutes away. Would you still make the trip to see them daily if it required several hours bus travel and you also had to fit in a hospitalised relative plus associated care tasks, and meeting the needs of a child with SN?

sunshinemmum · 16/02/2014 11:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sunshinemmum · 16/02/2014 11:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

oldgrandmama · 16/02/2014 11:54

Darlinggrace, that's not a very 'darling' comment. Nasty, in fact. OP, you are not being unreasonable, your in-laws are. Your DH must stand up to them and explain the situation so they take it on board.

I see my son and his family every few months - and we all adore each other. My daughter lives near and I sometimes see her once a week and sometimes less, but it's not written in stone. We're all happy with the frequency/infrequency of family visits.

I hope you get it sorted with your father.

cont13rary · 16/02/2014 12:01

De-lurking to say...

My parents live 10 minutes drive away from us. I'm an only child, who is a single mother of a teenager (almost adult) DD and a pre-teen DS (who who has mild AS). DS goes to his father's every other Saturday (DD refuses point blank to get involved, although she knows my ex, his wife, his family all love her and will always be there for her...). DS, on the other hand, goes because he wants to, but at the same time, he doesn't want to. His behaviour is abysmal building up to, and coming down from the trips. Consequently, because I got tired of having to deal with the every single Sunday vists to my parents, where, nine times out of ten, I was being patronised and criticized by my parents about DS's attitude/behaviour (they refuse point blank to acknowledge that his brain is wired slightly differently to other people's), I said that we were only going to visit them every other Sunday on the weekend where DS wasn't at his Dad's.

Please note, that both of my parents have developed the habit of randomly turning up on my doorstep without invitation, staying for several hours (whether it's convenient or not), and treating me as though I'm still 3 years old... in front of my children. Also, that when my grandparents were still alive, both of my parents complained - bitterly, and at length - about us "having" to visit them every weekend. Yet... they used to dump me on them every other weekend from the age of a year old (my parents don't "babysit" my children, and the one time I've asked them to, have actually had a go at me for "needing a break"). I'm still working on boundaries with my parents, who are so set in their ways that they actually seem to be refusing to grasp that my family (ie, the children and myself) need space. We weren't a close family to start off with, either, so I don't understand why they're so upset about my "we'll visit your house every other Sunday as opposed to every Sunday". They have no clue that I graduated university, for example (I was a mature student, who paid her own way without their "help", with a toddler DD in tow). The main turning point for me, though was when I realised that they were beginning to treat DD the same way they were treating me.

My children are happier for the Sundays we get "off", together. I am, too. It means that we can catch up on our family time, albeit whilst DS is "coming down" from his time with my ex (who is, actually, lovely and a great Dad... he's just not accepting of the fact that DS likes routines, and boundaries, etc., etc.). We've worked it so that the Sundays after the Saturdays DS spends with his Dad, we have together at home, so that he has the time and space to re-establish his comfort zone, cuddle on the sofa, walk the dog... generally relax without having to be dragged out anywhere. DD, on the other hand, is at college full time and works all day on a Saturday. Her only day "off" (although she's also doing college homework) is a Sunday. My parents won't allow her to take her college work to do at their house. At all...

Stick to your guns. Please, learn from my mistake. Don't let your family start to crumble the way mine did.

(Incidentally, will we be there for their wills being read? I cannot, and will not speak for DD or DS... but I know that I won't be. I don't want anything from my parents. At all. I never have; I never will. They barely raised me, they don't know me at all, and I will continue to distance myself from them.)

perplexedpirate · 16/02/2014 12:10

DarlingGrace that is a shitty, peevish remark.
Proud of yourself?

Innogen · 16/02/2014 12:16

Can DH go on his own? My ex used to do this, took lots of the pressure off. He took himself and the kids and I got the house to myself, some peace and quiet. Was bliss.

EvaBeaversProtege · 16/02/2014 13:13

DG's remark says more about her & her motives than anyone else's.

winkywinkola · 16/02/2014 13:40

DarlingGrace, what a spiteful thing to say.

Op, just because you have cut the apron strings and don't want to see parents every day/weekend or even even two or three months, does not make you a bad person.

It's normal and balanced to want to spend time with friends, other family or even just by yourselves. Very normal.

bochead · 16/02/2014 14:28

I'd be more worried about seeing the elderly parent who is in hospital/a care home than the ones still healthy and able to enjoy life. I'm just one of them that needs to know the ones I love are being properly cared for, and that any nursing staff etc can see there is a protective family "watching out for" my loved ones iykwim.

It's also important you don't get too run ragged to really be paying attention to your children's emotional welfare. In order to monitor their welfare you need to give your kids at least one day a week of your UNDIVIDED attention imho. This time cannot be made up for in later years, when it's all gone wrong.

Once a month visit is fine to the IL's, coupled with regular phone, skype, email contact in between. They can always move if they want a closer relationship with you all more often face to face.

DS & I are very close to my Mum. The best thing for DS's future was to relocate last year, this year my Mum will relocate to a maximum of 15 mins walk from us so we can all be close. DS has significant SN's , hence the relocation to give him the best life chances. If I didn't put my kid first, my parent would be the first to kick my butt!

The generational houseprice wealth that affects so many families means she'll have more choice of properties to chose from than we did. It means we'll all spend a year to 18 months apart, but my Mum understands that the next generation is the key priority just as I do, and it's gotta be said - all relationships at some point require sacrifice and real effort.

I think your PIL need to accept the need for a little give and take here. At no stage of life beyond toddlerhood does anyone get to say "it's all about me". Everyone has to accept that family relationships require balance, at the moment your priority should be the ill parent and the kids. In a few years that balance may change. You get sick running yourself ragged then everyone suffers across the generations you are responsible for looking after.

Ledkr · 16/02/2014 16:11

Love ops like darling grace who pop in with an inflammatory remark and then fuck off!

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