Would you step back from BIL and SIL who never seem to reciprocate?

[IDontLikeMondays88]

They semi regularly send pictures of their kids to a family group chat. We would always comment “great pic” or “looking
good” something similar. Same with their kids achieving something eg winning a completion we will make a nice comment.

however if we send pictures of our children we often just get….no response at all. Not even a thumbs up 😧

similarly they ask us to sponsor their children once or twice a year (school fundraising etc) but won’t sponsor or donate back even when directly asked.

so what would you do here. Their kids are my children’s only direct cousins so ideally I don’t want to lose touch with them but this sticks in the throat.

Would you take a step back? I am just thinking of not sending any pics at all and also possibly removing them from my social media as I feel it makes it easy for them to see what we are up to without having to make an effort to keep in touch.

it seems like they want us to comment and gush over their kids but don’t want to reciprocate.

they live abroad and then when they visit we are expected to drop everything to accommodate them. Which we usually do. Because they do live abroad it seems important to send photos / updates but if you then get no comment on them or acknowledgement it feels a bit pointless.

@FourSevenFive not understanding the performative comment how is it performative 😂

Also once a year is because they live abroad thousands of miles away. It’s not that they are down the road. So sending pictures etc is more important as we otherwise don’t see them.

If someone I even vaguely knew thought fit to send me a pic of their kid I would always acknowledge - it is just basic manners and being polite 🙄

the fact that my childrens only aunt and uncle aren’t interest in them is reallt hurtful and disappointing

For me "great pics" is a comment for the sake of commenting. You are doing it to visibly make an effort. Maybe they consider it OTT, unnecessary notification.

Just post an update from time to time, don't "acknowledge" and don't expect to be acknowledged and you can all live happily in low effort coexistence.