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Just fade out like you plan and tell the busybody relatives to butt out.
If he makes another "joke" in your presence, call him out. Ask him to explain what he means or why the joke is funny and let him try to make excuses. If he pulls the "it was a joke" say, jokes are supposed to be funny and that wasn't. Or just tell him to go eff himself and then walk out. |
| Bullies gonna bully. I don’t put up with racism, etc. Maybe if you say something directly, rather than waking the other way they will stop the behavior. Like wow, you know you just said that out loud. Do you get away with that in the office? Has HR got a file going on you? What worked for the person who was most resistant to changing their behavior was saying ( to a remarkable intelligent person) ‘you sound really dumb when you say things like that’. Never heard slurs again. |
NP but I am also left wondering why you are discussing this with extended relatives at all. Possibly they are bringing it up to you? You don't need to engage. Thanks for your thoughts Aunt Matilda. And then move on. If Aunt Matilda persists say you aren't interested in discussing. This seems like a lot of drama. Just don't talk to the guy independently and avoid at larger family functions. What is there "to do"? |
Well it’s hard to totally avoid someone in a small house … then my mind is on avoiding them the whole time and it’s miserable. Not going would be drama. Going and avoiding is internal drama for me. Telling the other relatives to butt out is drama. It ALL seems like drama and I hate it. |
This isn’t hard. You are making it unnecessarily hard. Skip the small house gatherings if they’re very optional (a superbowl party). Do not mention this ever again to other relatives. If they want to know why you’re not going to the Super Bowl party, you have a conflict with a different Super Bowl party. If it would be super awkward to skip (? (? shiva) then go and don’t engage. At all. Like not at all. Even a “small house” has a living room and a kitchen. You be in one, he is in the other. Switch rooms when necessary. Do you have generalized anxiety? It sounds like you might. Because being at a small gathering, even in a small space , should not be anxiety producing. This is why people blather on about the Nationals or _______ banal topic — parent of a Jewish kid with a family full of sometimes-clueless non-Jews and the random bigot |
As a parent you need to buck up and be ready to say things in the moment. |
| Let the relationship fade out. But be ready when you encounter people like this to rebut quickly. “What an ignorant thing to say.” Works well. |
What did other people do? |
Claimed they didn’t hear it but I only talked to one person. |
I read your OP. Some people only understand getting their butts cussed out! Let her rip!!!! |
It’s a good question to ask why I don’t feel capable of doing that. I think it’s because I just want to get away from him, not even have the interaction that yelling would entail. There would be no satisfaction for me and then he’d just tell everyone I’m “crazy.” |
I mean what advice do you want? You aren’t willing to stand up for your child, there’s nothing else to say. |
There’s nothing to do now. You got offended but not actually offended enough to do anything about it. |
it’s not clear to me that a confrontation is actually “doing anything about it.” Mostly likely he’ll just deny it or call me over sensitive or whatever. Certainly if my kid had actually been there my reaction would have been more confrontational. |
I’m Christian and assumed this is what it was (Jewish child) for what it’s worth. |