To not answer the phone when FIL rings?

[Washersaurus]

Obviously we have caller display.

DH goes to the pub on a Thursday night with his mates. DH has been going to the pub every Thursday with his friends for around 8 years.

Almost every Thursday evening FIL rings. I am bored of telling him every week that DH is in the pub, so tonight I didn't answer the phone

I know IABU (probably), but DH does have a mobile that FIL could ring on a Thursday if he really needs to speak to DH.

lmao

Does he not hear the click and know what you are up to (or is that the whole point??)

Oh, he knows. He just can't quite believe that someone could put the phone down on a magistrate.

Sometimes my children get to the phone first and tell me that Grandad's on the phone. I just pop into the hallway, put the phone down quietly and spend the next 10 minutes feeling very happy.

I realise that this is not normal behaviour.

Hilarious!
Does he have it out with yuo???

No! I recently took the grandchildren to meet them as they were in the area (they live at the other end of the country)and he completely avoided all eye-contact or conversation. Wimp.

He is a bully and doesn't know how to respond to me controling whether I talk to him or not. Totally out of his comfort zone. Children love him so I'm happy for them to talk whenever they like...I'm just not interested in listening to his weirdness myself.

Good for you!

If you have an answer machine turn it on, turn the volume off & switch the phone to 'silent'. That way you can honestly say you didn't hear it ring. BTW,Washersaurus, how old is your FIL?

Oh he's not old old, late 50's maybe 60? I doubt he is lonely; his wife is only a couple of years older than DH.

I'm liking the silently putting the phone down approach, but my FIL isn't horrible or anything, he just annoys me by ringing every week and having the same conversation with me"...really, he's in the pub again?"

I often ignore calls from MIL just because sometimes I can't be bothered with her. She's hard work. I just tell him that his mother phoned but I didn't hear the phone at the time and he quite happily rings her back. I don't think she's any the wiser!

But I will not have an answerphone at all, ever. I refuse to be obliged to call someone back at my expense just cos they've left a message asking me to. If they're that desperate to speak to me they'll call back and I might answer if I can recognise the number and be arsed to

Blimey, I sound really unsociable and I'm not honestly!

I like hiding too. Will ignore the door, the phone, the mobile. DH is the ONLY person I always answer for.

I ignore the phone wherever possible

my mil always used to phone when we had dinner. when dd got a bit older & we started having dinner an hour later, she phoned an hour later. once she phoned after our dinner time and said 'see, i've been good. i waited'. i was so . i had just assumed that she was too dense to realise that i always said' will have to be quick, just serving dinner & dd is starving'. no, she did it knowingly. nb, ONCE she phoned later, just the once.

now we live in US & she tries to skype me & dd at the exact time she knows we have lunch. i shut the laptop off as soon as i see the little flashy light.

i mean, we moved continents to get away from the woman and she still interupts our meal times!