tell me what's odd about where you're staying

[Anonymous]

To the pps asking about why we don't just get a hotel-

We have to fly to get to my ils house. For 4 people, this isn't cheap. We're already deeper in debt than we would like. My FIL was ill last year and my husband refused to stay anywhere other than the house. He only agreed our last 2 stays (last visit then the funeral) because even he hated being trapped in the house with the idiot baby momma of his brother's children and the stupid little rat dog that came with her.

We stayed at Christmas because it was the first time without his dad and the rooms had been redone to provide a more comfortable sleeping arrangement for everyone. Of course, the idiot woman showed up again and I wanted to punch her, but I have to stay civil.

We really just don't have the extra money to get a hotel and a car when it already costs us money we basically can't spare to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Leaving tomorrow for my inlaws for 2 nights. Beautiful 7 bedroom home in a lovely NYC suburb.
Only has twin beds besides the master bedroom. Husband will sleep in one room with our toddler in a blow up bed. I will sleep in another room with my 6 week old in a pack and play. We have to take the PnP and inflatable bed with us - my parents bought a PnP for our visits. Silly me insisting on sleeping near our children when my FIL offered to push a twin bed against a wall and put chairs on the other side like a DIY bedrail - you know so my 2yr old can sleep in an unfamiliar room with unsecured bookshelves and dressers.

There will be no fruits or veggies served unless MIL washes half a small box of berries and puts it out for everyone to share at brakfast. Dinner might include iceberg lettuce with good seasonings Italian dressing made with canola oil and white vinegar - but will also have a main dish made from a nice piece or meat or seafood - so it's preference not budget. Once when we were there for a week and I was getting constipated from a severe lack of fiber I made lentils as a side dish and for days they kept saying "how interesting" they were. Just French lentils with mirepoix and bay leaf!

All TP is single ply and scratchy.

It sounds like they have cash flow issues. What is with all these houses with no furniture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Staying with MIL.

Everybody including adults must put a towel on their chair while eating at the kitchen table.

There is only bar soap in the entire house. Dishes are hand washed with a bar of Ivory soap.

There are decorative liquid soap dispensers in the bathroom but they are only for show. Decorative tissue box covers are also empty. She doesn't like for people to use the decorative hand towels but there aren't other towels to use.

The upstairs shower drain is clogged so you're basically standing in a bath by the time your shower is done. It's been this way for over 2 years. She doesn't think it's an issue.

Everyone is freezing but MIL won't turn the heat up.

God I hope my son doesn't bring anybody like you home.
Pay Op
Go to Costco and stock up all the paper (towels, hand towels, tissues)
Get her slip covers for the dining chairs
And pay her gas bill for the month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the pps asking about why we don't just get a hotel-

We have to fly to get to my ils house. For 4 people, this isn't cheap. We're already deeper in debt than we would like. My FIL was ill last year and my husband refused to stay anywhere other than the house. He only agreed our last 2 stays (last visit then the funeral) because even he hated being trapped in the house with the idiot baby momma of his brother's children and the stupid little rat dog that came with her.

We stayed at Christmas because it was the first time without his dad and the rooms had been redone to provide a more comfortable sleeping arrangement for everyone. Of course, the idiot woman showed up again and I wanted to punch her, but I have to stay civil.

We really just don't have the extra money to get a hotel and a car when it already costs us money we basically can't spare to get there.

You are causing your divorce. He will leave you. His family is liking talking to him daily about how selfish you are... Or do you already just hate him?
And secretly want away from this family that is so beneath you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My SIL and BIL allow their 16 yo son to belch and slurp loudly at the table without a word, a look or so much as an elbow poke. I don't get it.

They are picking there battles. It will stop when he falls "in love" and the. Pay back is a mother... A mothers table fart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My in laws insist on the squeegee for the shower walls after every shower. I did it the first time I ever stayed there, 25 years ago when I was 19. I never did it again. I have four kids to watch and don't have time for that shit. Last year she actually mentioned it and I told her I stopped doing it over 20 years ago.
She's a crazy bitch but I do have a new fabulous gay brother in law (husband of dh's brother) who I now can bitch about her with. It's so great cause I used to be on my own with no one to vent to.

This. Is. Awesome. Can I borrow him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the pps asking about why we don't just get a hotel-

We have to fly to get to my ils house. For 4 people, this isn't cheap. We're already deeper in debt than we would like. My FIL was ill last year and my husband refused to stay anywhere other than the house. He only agreed our last 2 stays (last visit then the funeral) because even he hated being trapped in the house with the idiot baby momma of his brother's children and the stupid little rat dog that came with her.

We stayed at Christmas because it was the first time without his dad and the rooms had been redone to provide a more comfortable sleeping arrangement for everyone. Of course, the idiot woman showed up again and I wanted to punch her, but I have to stay civil.

We really just don't have the extra money to get a hotel and a car when it already costs us money we basically can't spare to get there.

You are causing your divorce. He will leave you. His family is liking talking to him daily about how selfish you are... Or do you already just hate him?
And secretly want away from this family that is so beneath you?

When the hell did I say his family is beneath me? His mom is a lovely person. I liked his dad-sad he is gone.

Trust me, my mil is NOT telling my husband to leave me-they credit my influence on him for his turnaround in his 20s and what he has become as we approach 40. I may not be perfect, but if they are doing a comparison between me and the women their other son has been with...

My only contempt is for the woman who birthed 2 kids and pops in and out of their lives at her convenience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL has no door handle on the ONE bathroom door. My husband went to Home Depot to fix it and she got all pissed off. She also does not believe in buying garbage bags. She just uses the small plastic grocery bags.

We checked into the local Marriott.

OMG. Are these depression era women determined to try to prove something? Besides the fact that they are batshit crazy?

I am 40 and do not have a kitchen garbage pail. I just use a brown paper bag on the floor. We're only two people and don't fill one bag up each day - more like every four days or so. And while there IS a handle on the bathroom door, the door is never closed. The shower stall is really dark so I hung a trouble light from the door to create more light in the shower. Thus, the bathroom door is never closed all the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My MIL doesn't let us use any bath towels. So we pack our own towels when we visit (we are flying, btw). She stores them in the master bedroom which we don't go into. She gives my SIL 2 towels but none for us. It's been like this for years.

Oh, he'll no. You don't provide basics like TOWELS, we don't spend $ to fly to see you. Ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colace is your travel friend. The lady with the unsecured dressers and the mirepoix is too much.

I had to Google mirepoix [hanging head in shame].

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My il's house is a lovely, sprawling, turn of the ( 20th) century manor.
The downside is that DH and his parents insist on putting the baby in the other wing, away from us.
I can hear baby on the monitor, but it still keeps me up all night. It makes me nervous that in the event of an emergency, I am doubtful we could get to her in time.

Grow some ovaries and STAND UP to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's mine:

Parents fight and bicker constantly, like every single conversation. What to serve for dinner, when to go do errands, how to do anything in the house. They fight more around their own children but slightly talk more civilly when extended family or son in laws are present. Usually lots of yelling and swearing involved.

Dad has an electric stovetop that he is always cleaning and doesn't want anyone to actually use. His dinner one night was boiled white pasta but then microwaved bowls of ragu and frozen meatballs. Also the salad is always contains iceberg lettuce, canned black olives, and Wishbone Italian dressing.

House is packed with stuff everywhere: VHS tapes, Consumer Reports from 2003, a basement full of old crap. Mom wants to declutter but Dad will not allow it, just another thing they don't agree on.

One sibling's family is vegan and it is a total pain to cook and plan meals around.

One sibling is divorced and has an acrimonious relationship with ex. Only has her kids 50% of the time. Never know when she will show up or leave and doesn't respond to texts, and is always later than when she says she will be.

Luckily we have lots of hotel points and we sleep at a local hotel.

Except for the vegan sibling this could be my family, too. I always say my parents are like George Costanza's parents, just bickering constantly over everything. My mother won't let anyone use the oven/stove, but she doesn't actually cook anything (other than boiling water for pasta, which ends up overcooked). Their house is packed with stuff, and we never know when my brother will show up or if he'll have his kids with him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stayed with ILs. They are fully functional adults but will all of a sudden tell DH that he will be cooking dinner for everyone with no notice. (They do buy the ingredients at least.)

No one wakes up before 11am except my 5 yo DD and I, and the living area is attached to their bedroom and they leave the door open. Awkward to hang out in full view of sleeping people. I have taken to leaving the house soon after my kid and I wake up.

We have to clean off surface areas if we want to eat anywhere except on the couch in front of the TV. There's just crap piled up everywhere. But they're nice people.

Ugh. People who don't close their bedroom doors when guests are around (or when they are guests) are THE WORST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My SIL and BIL allow their 16 yo son to belch and slurp loudly at the table without a word, a look or so much as an elbow poke. I don't get it.

They are picking there battles. It will stop when he falls "in love" and the. Pay back is a mother... A mothers table fart.

Hahahahaha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More children being born to unmarried parents is not necessarily a good thing, as we all know.

It is a signal of tough times ahead for a good deal of these kids.

Illegitimate is ok to use. Better than Bastard.