Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Another Christmas/in-laws dilemma

157 replies

metellaestinatrio · 27/10/2015 17:43

This is my first post, although I discovered MN a few months ago and have been an avid reader ever since. I am hoping for some advice on a tricky Christmas-related issue.

DH and I are expecting our first baby, due on 21 December. DH's mum sadly died a few years ago, and since then DH and SIL (his sister) have always spent Christmas with FIL. This year, we explained early on to both our families that DH and I would be having a very quiet Christmas on our own because of the baby's due date – if I haven’t given birth by then, I will be huge and will need to be near the hospital, and if I have we will be rather occupied with working out how on earth to look after our baby! Of course, I also could be in hospital over Christmas depending on when the baby arrives.

SIL has now announced (somewhat out of the blue) that she and her boyfriend are moving to Australia for a year and will be leaving at the end of November because the job she has found would like her to start as soon as possible. So, if DH and I don't spend Christmas with FIL, he is likely to be on his own. We can't go to his house as he lives 2.5 hours away, and I am worried about having him to stay with us because we just don't know what will be happening with the baby. FIL is perfectly nice (especially compared to some of the nightmares you read about on here) but is the kind of guest who expects to be looked after all the time and does very little to help out, plus he would want a "proper" Christmas with trimmings rather than the quiet one we had planned.

FIL lives near to his extended family but they are not very close and are unlikely to invite him for Christmas (plus he would not want to ask/broach the subject with them). So, are we being unreasonable and awful if we don't invite him to ours? What should we do?

OP posts:
Mehitabel6 · 02/11/2015 16:10

Glad you have it sorted.

Mehitabel6 · 02/11/2015 16:11

I should have said that I hope you can relax now and hope that you have a lovely Christmas.

metellaestinatrio · 02/11/2015 18:08

Thank you - you too!

OP posts:
GrannyGoggles · 02/11/2015 19:03

Good heavens! People behaving like adults, discussing things, being considerate of one another's feelings, making kind offers: Happy Christmas OP! I hope all is straightforward as possible for you and your baby, and that you and your family enjoy welcoming the new arrival whenever s/he decides to arrive.

InternalMonologue · 02/11/2015 19:16

Hooray for a sensible outcome! Enjoy your Christmas Xmas Smile

YouTheCat · 02/11/2015 19:52

I do love a happy update. Grin

NoSquirrels · 03/11/2015 20:29

Thanks for the update, OP! Smile

New posts on this thread. Refresh page