My sister in law is a bit of a tricky customer. She comes across as very friendly and nice, and we generally get on well and do things as friends. I would call her a friend as well as a SIL.
However, I've come to realise over time that she tends to sometimes have expectations of me that, on their own, amount to nothing. As part of a bigger picture though I wonder if she is trying to assert herself over me.
Some little examples....when I leaver her house she will often ask me to post a letter for her, even though the post box isn't actually on my way home from her house. This sounds like a really insignificant thing - but she often does things like this, asks me to go out of my way for her, even though she could just complete the task herself.
Other things - because I live near the shops she will always ask me to pop in and get something for me on my way over to her. Again - she knows that she shops are not actually on my way. But it's almost like she has to test whether I'll put myself out for her?
I've started to say no to the post box/shop things or just say I forgot or am walking another way home.
The other things that she is difficult over is that she won't ever commit to making firm plans about anything. If I ask her if she's coming to something the answer is always "maybe" or "probably". She answers like this to everything from me asking if she wants to walk up to school in the morning, or if she is coming to my DC birthday party. She will not commit. But she does expect me to hang around just waiting for her to make up my mind.
Yesterday I asked her if she wanted to walk up to school together today and she said "hopefully" and as it was absolutely freezing today I didn't hang around on the corner waiting for her as I usually would and she was really stroppy about it!
Long, sorry, I'll stop now.