Help me entertain my bump-on-a-log family over Xmas
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Anonymous
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My mom and brother are visiting (for too long) over Xmas. Need ideas to entertain them and keep my sanity. We are in Fairfax Cty and the two of them will literally sit on my couch and stare at me for 5 days if I don’t figure out what to do with them. And no, neither will offer up anything, entertain themselves, or even cook a meal or lift a finger while they are here. We have decades of family trauma and dysfunction to tip toe around, so I am just trying to get them out of the house once a day for some distraction.
About them: —Mom is mid-70s. Fairly overweight which limits her mobility. Everything is a production and wants to know “the plan” multiple times a day. Lives in the South so cold weather is also a challenge for her. —Brother is mid-50s. Single. An unflattering description would be that he’s the comic book store guy from The Simpsons. I will also have two college-age/recent grad children at home. Some ideas: —Husband takes brother and my son to Caps or Wizards game —I take mom and my daughter to a show. Not thrilled about going downtown with mom, but will for something of interest. May opt for Miracle on 34th St musical at Capital One Hall. Boycotting KC. —They’ve done various Smithsonian stuff before, but don’t think either has done the Spy museum. How do you keep family busy when visiting? I wish we could be a normal family, but we’re well past any chance of that happening. |
Anonymous
| Five days is too long. |
Anonymous
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Dinner cruise on the Potomac?
Drive-through light show anywhere nearby? Go to a Christmas tree farm or lot/put up a tree together? Holiday cookie-making? |
Anonymous
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Why do you need to do anything? Just have them sit on the couch. What's the problem?
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Anonymous
OP here. I am well aware. The flights were booked before I even extended an invitation. Won’t be happening again. |
Anonymous
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I relate to this so much. It feels near impossible. I love the spy museum but its pretty interactive, usually very busy and I'm not sure its great for people with low mobility.
One idea could be doing the Bull Rull lights where you drive through. One year we did a tour of the Natl Cathedral and dropped off the less mobile people out front while we parked. |
Anonymous
Clearly you have never experienced the pain and boredom of this kind of situation. It is life sucking. DP. |
Anonymous
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My parents are bumps on logs. They just want to sit around (and yes, my mother is highly irritating, but she'll be irritating regardless of whether we leave the house or not). I live my life around them when the visit, go out when I need to, entertain myself and the kids, and if they want to join, they join.
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Anonymous
No, my relatives are like this. I mostly do my best to ignore them. |
Anonymous
| We get new board games to help pass the time. Telestrations is a good one- you just have to be able to draw even poorly! |
Anonymous
| karaoke at home? |
Anonymous
| Go to the movies. |
Anonymous
OP here. Thank you. It’s a hard situation to describe and not one I can just ignore (recognizing that is also a “me” issue). Mom especially just wants to be near me. I can’t make dinner without her staring at me and basically providing running commentary over the whole process. If I run upstairs, I’m peppered with questions about what I’m doing. Forget about a run to the grocery store. That’s a whole family outing, done very, very slowly. |
Anonymous
| Why so expensive? Just go to the movies and get a couple of jigsaw puzzles. |
Anonymous
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We too are avoiding KC.
Fords Theatre for A Christmas Carol Grinch starts at National Theatre Dec 30 Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show at Arena Stage Fiddler on the Roof at Signature Theatre |