Pils are wonderful people in many ways but mil in particular lacks empathy and has rubbish emotional intelligence imho. Fils dad is v ill atm and is in hospital. Pil are therefore spending a lot of time visiting and back and forth with fil's mum too who is in her 80s. It's a sad situation and everyone is mucking in to help, but sometimes I get a bit frustrated at how relentlessly practical they all are to the exclusion of other stuff.
I'm not a v practical person and was always told at school etc that I lacked 'common sense'. I'm v bookish and academic, high achieving in that respect but not good with practical things and that's why I feel dh and I complement each other as he is practical, but sometimes the lack of an emotional dimension with my pils frustrates me, eg if dh is arranging to go and see his dgf or dgm pils will talk for hours about making sure dgm Knows how to use the microwave or locks up or needs napkins or knows how to turn the tv on etc but I don't think they have ever asked how she is feeling about the fact that her husband of 60+ years is in hospital and whether she wants to talk to someone about it, have a good cry etc...I don't know, it seems kind of patronising to think of her as reduced to her physical needs but not much else, but then I know that pils are showing their love for her by offering this practical help as this is what they are good at.
are anyone's else's pils like this? I'd like to say its a generation thing but my parents aren't like this at all (both sets of parents late 50s/early 60s...