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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To Feel Let Down By In-Laws

152 replies

RebeccaReys · 01/01/2020 12:55

Will try and keep this short!

Recently had a beautiful DS with my DH, who I've been with for over a decade. We lived in London for a while but decided to move outside of LDN when we started a family. We were going back and forth on whether we should move closer to my family (Midlands but still accessible to London for work), or nearer to his in the South East. The South East eventually won, purely because of proximity to London.

We've since moved, but while the house and area is nice, I'm afraid to say that his parents have been a little disappointing so far. My parents are very hands on and are desperate to regularly help with childcare when I go back to work, despite living 60 miles away. His only live five miles down the road, are both retired, and when we asked if they would be happy to look after DS once a week when I head back, their response was a curt "we'll have to think about that". They still haven't agreed to help, five months later.

They can also be very judgemental at times and often will pass on their parenting "nuggets of wisdom" without actively helping. For example they expected to be hosted, cups of tea to be made for them etc in the days after the birth of DS rather than coming over to help, regularly commented that I was spoiling a newborn baby because I attended to his crying quickly (a classic!), and most recently accused me of trapping my DS's hand in his high chair at Christmas in front of the whole family (I didn't).

I can't help but feel resentful about the situation when I know we could have had a lovely supportive family had we moved closer to home, not to mention that we could have afforded a larger place.

I'm aware this is in part down to my DH not having a frank conversation with his parents before we made the decision to move here, but it's now getting to the point where I'm irritated every time they come over, and am starting to try to find ways to actively avoid them. AIBU in feeling peeved, and what would you do in this situation?

OP posts:
Insideimsprinting · 02/01/2020 15:23

You have one set of gp's willing to help, stop focusing on the ones who don't ( and quite frankly shouldn't feel like they have to).
Travel to work is one thing but having failed to consider available free childcare in the beginning you now live to far from the ones wanting to do it.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth op, find a way if being closer to those who want to help, having the distance from the ones who aren't keen will probably do the relationship with them thw world of good as you will stop resenting the fact they don't want to do it and you won't get as many daft comments.

Motoko · 02/01/2020 16:25

When did we move away from having a supportive “community” to help raise the next generation?

When Norman Tebbit told us to get on our bikes to look for work.

Many people since the 80s have had to move away from their hometowns, in order to find work, and many more have had to move away because they can no longer afford to live there, due to houseprices and rent being more than they can afford.

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