What's weird about where you are staying - Thanksgiving 2024 edition

[Anonymous]

My MIL will precook broccoli in the morning because it “takes too long to cook” at a mealtime. She will then reheat it when it’s time to eat. Also food safety means nothing. Meat left on the counter for hours is a common occurrence. I won’t eat what she makes. Luckily we are at our house this year so no issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom proudly told me on Monday that she just finished cooking the turkey so she can re-heat it for us Thursday.

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/make-ahead-roast-turkey

Are you better than Ina?

Yes. I serve my guests fresh food, not leftovers. So clearly I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

How old are your kids that you expect them to sleep until 9am or later? 6:40 is a typical waking time for young kids and it sounds like they were staying in their room. I’d be interested to hear your SILs take on this visit.

All three of my kids are professional sleepers at 5, 7, 9. If we let them they'll sleep until 10 every morning.

Then you do not provide age appropriate bedtimes. This does make your poor children good sleepers. It makes them chronically exhausted. Good sleepers sleep 7/8pm to 7/8am.

Umm, the exact times that people go to sleep and wake up do not matter in the least. The amount of time spent asleep matters, but the times of falling asleep and waking up are unimportant.

No, but the kids can't sleep until 10 a.m. since they have to be in school. So, the parents are giving their children a sleep deficit by allowing them to stay up late.

And you need to examine the research on sleep times. Humans have evolved circadian rhythms to go with natural light. Your assertion that sleep/wake times do not matter is absolutely not true.

NP whose elementary kid goes to bed at 8:30 p.m., but who is here to tell you to shut up and go take a nap, because you are obnoxious.

I was a NP also, but just like for any other post on DCUM, if someone posts something that is false, I will respond. Sorry. And I don't need a nap because I go to bed at a reasonable time.

If you aren’t tired, why are you such a miserable shrew?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL’s house has the fewest outlets, the dullest knives, and the oldest spices ever.

Me again her paprika is literally in this tin.

This is why I come to DCUM. I love this. And the freezing cold house. Amazing.

I'm sorry OP. But thanks for sharing. I only have to deal with my inlaws for about 5 hours tomorrow and I've been annoyed about it. If I had to fly across the country and deal with them for a WEEK SOLID in their house, I'm not sure my marriage would survive...

My parents have the same jars of spices they had when I was a child. I'm 40 years old.

[Anonymous]

OP here with an update.

DH has been gradually increasing thermostat, and we are now at the tolerable 67 I had originally suggested.

Cooking needs to commence today, as I need to orchestrate around MIL's mini-oven. We managed to get to the grocery store yesterday with only about 30-40 minutes of debate as to why we would drive so far (30 minutes) when there is a convenience store 10 minutes away. So, things are looking up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My MIL will precook broccoli in the morning because it “takes too long to cook” at a mealtime. She will then reheat it when it’s time to eat. Also food safety means nothing. Meat left on the counter for hours is a common occurrence. I won’t eat what she makes. Luckily we are at our house this year so no issues.

One of my favorite things here is the never ending bottle of salad dressing. Some years ago they bought a bottle of strawberry vinaigrette. They just keep adding vinegar, oil, whatever to the bottle and shaking it. That bottle is at least three years old and to my knowledge it has never been washed. Pretty much if it was cooked in or sourced from this house, and you didn’t witness it being opened in a reasonable timeframe you are taking your life into your hands if you eat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read this entire thread to find out what was in the red container in the basement fridge…

What was it? I can’t find!

My vote is on pot brownies. I mean, doesn't everyone store their pot brownies in a red container in the basement fridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL will precook broccoli in the morning because it “takes too long to cook” at a mealtime. She will then reheat it when it’s time to eat. Also food safety means nothing. Meat left on the counter for hours is a common occurrence. I won’t eat what she makes. Luckily we are at our house this year so no issues.

One of my favorite things here is the never ending bottle of salad dressing. Some years ago they bought a bottle of strawberry vinaigrette. They just keep adding vinegar, oil, whatever to the bottle and shaking it. That bottle is at least three years old and to my knowledge it has never been washed. Pretty much if it was cooked in or sourced from this house, and you didn’t witness it being opened in a reasonable timeframe you are taking your life into your hands if you eat it.

Living at the intersection of this and the oldest spices in the world, my mom has had the same bottle of Vanilla Extract since I was a child. She just keeps adding alcohol to it, so now it's just a bottle of vodka.

[Anonymous]

My MIL is paranoid about her dining table. She first covers it in blankets. (DH’s teenaged mutant ninja turtles one from his childhood) then she adds a layer of cardboard cut to shape. Then, three different table cloths, then a lace table cloth, with a final layer of plastic. It’s not an antique table either, it’s a cherry colored table she bought in the 90s from value city furniture. It’s such a joy to eat off of a thickly padded table!

[Anonymous]

Paging Burger King Lady... please come out to play!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paging Burger King Lady... please come out to play!

She must be summoned by saying “I’m hungry; I want a snack” three times between the hours of 1 and 7 p.m.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

How old are your kids that you expect them to sleep until 9am or later? 6:40 is a typical waking time for young kids and it sounds like they were staying in their room. I’d be interested to hear your SILs take on this visit.

All three of my kids are professional sleepers at 5, 7, 9. If we let them they'll sleep until 10 every morning.

Bedtime?

Usually 8:30.

[Anonymous]

Like the never-ending bottle of salad dressing, my dad would make soup with leftovers and just keep adding to it like sourdough starter kept in the fridge and never actually seemed to ever dispose of any of it. I never tasted it, but he died more than a decade ago (not from the soup!) and I’d love to see him making that soup again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

How old are your kids that you expect them to sleep until 9am or later? 6:40 is a typical waking time for young kids and it sounds like they were staying in their room. I’d be interested to hear your SILs take on this visit.

All three of my kids are professional sleepers at 5, 7, 9. If we let them they'll sleep until 10 every morning.

Then you do not provide age appropriate bedtimes. This does make your poor children good sleepers. It makes them chronically exhausted. Good sleepers sleep 7/8pm to 7/8am.

What? Not that PP but my ES kids don’t go to sleep at 7 pm, wtf. They have activities, homework, dinner.

No elementary aged child should be awake (or at least up) after 8:30 p.m. Our country is full of people who are sleep deprived and kids' behavior and attention has gotten terrible as parents stopped believing in bed times. If you have over scheduled your kids, time to re-examine.

Just stop. There is no “right” time for children, or anyone for that matter, to go to bed. People are different and have different natural cycles in their bodies. The amount of sleep matters, not going to bed and getting up at certain times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

If your kids have sleep disorders you should offer to pay for a hotel for your visitors, you really just should not have overnight guests.

Not PP you were talking to, but my son has a sleep disorder, untreatable sleep apnea. It's NOT a joke. It will shorten his life, make him more liable to develop dementia, and worsens his existing ADHD and daily capabilities. No one should scoff at such medical troubles.

Why would I pay for hotels for guests? Our house is too small for guests. We see each other at non-Holiday times, that's all.

I’m not “scoffing,” I’m saying that if there’s a problem with guests, you should prioritize the health of the people who live in the house, and not have guests!

Sounds like you live close to your family; how nice. Some of us don’t and don’t get the chance to see each other very often. So yes, if they buy plane tickets and rent a car the least I can do is entertain them and pay for a few nights in a hotel to protect my kids’ health.

Again, no one is “scoffing,” so consider stop being so knee-jerk defensive.

DP, a m not paying for guests’ hotel rooms.
Pay for your own hotel.
You can either stay at my house or you can’t.
I don’t expect people to pay for my hotel. Are you nuts?