Telling MIL she cannot bring iPad to our house at Christmas?

[Anonymous]

You are ridiculous, OP, as well as a control freak.

[Anonymous]

Get over it. She's reaching out and coming to visit, which you yourself admit is a change. Don't hurt her feelings and through it all in her face by being a rude and inflexible host.

[Anonymous]

throw*

[Anonymous]

Well, while I think other posters are being rude to you and likely don't have a clue what this is like, I do agree that there is basically nothing you can do and you definitely can't ask her not to bring it without coming off like a lunatic.

My ILS, both of them, do the same thing when visiting. And they come from way farther than Atlanta. So I totally get where you are coming from. Reading a book on an obscure card game while he melded into the couch was way more important than reading to our DD, which resulted in him telling her multiple times/days over the course of the visit that he wouldn't read to her and she was bothering him.

Eventually the kids will figure out where they rank and they will behave toward their grandparents accordingly.

For now, I enforce a strict (for everyone in my house) no electronics/toys/books at the dinner table rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, while I think other posters are being rude to you and likely don't have a clue what this is like, I do agree that there is basically nothing you can do and you definitely can't ask her not to bring it without coming off like a lunatic.

My ILS, both of them, do the same thing when visiting. And they come from way farther than Atlanta. So I totally get where you are coming from. Reading a book on an obscure card game while he melded into the couch was way more important than reading to our DD, which resulted in him telling her multiple times/days over the course of the visit that he wouldn't read to her and she was bothering him.

Eventually the kids will figure out where they rank and they will behave toward their grandparents accordingly.

For now, I enforce a strict (for everyone in my house) no electronics/toys/books at the dinner table rule.

+1 to what this poster said. While it is annoying, I don't think you can do anything without looking like a coocoo. I never understand why my ILs come all the way from the Midwest and then want to do nothing except sit around and watch sports on television, which they could do just as easily in Indiana as they do here. It's a total waste of coming to the Nation's Capital, imho, but after 11 years I've given up on trying to plan fun outings to downtown and other locales that no one else enjoys except for me. I've decided you can lead a dog to water, but you can't make him drink you know? My FIL just drags behind us and looks longingly at every bench we pass, and asks if we can sit down. My MIL just looks longingly at every restaurant we pass, and wonders if we can go in and eat. Sigh. What can ya do? They are who they are. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Unplug that router

[Anonymous]

Another vote for the wifi mysteriously going down....

[Anonymous]

I don't think you can dicate what she can and can't bring. But YOU can dictate the availibility of your wifi =)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unplug that router

This. Do it OP. See what happens.

[Anonymous]

I do this...very sparingly...at our house.

[Anonymous]

There was a thread awhile back about a grandmother who wasn't allowing screens at her house when she was hosting. Everyone was supporting her. It's interesting that this thread is the opposite.

OP, I get it. That kind of thing bothers me, too. And it sets a bad example for kids.

[Anonymous]

My in-laws always had the television on - day and night, when we would come to visit. We drove 6 hours to see them, and you could barely hear yourself over the TV. When they came (rarely) to visit us, it was the same. My kids barely remember them now. They remember my parents much better because my parents taught them how to play cards and had board games they would play with them every visit.

Look at it this way - they're old, they won't live forever, and if this is how they want to be remembered by your children, then so be it. Mentioning it, or turning off your router (which won't work BTW) just makes you seem like a jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My in-laws always had the television on - day and night, when we would come to visit. We drove 6 hours to see them, and you could barely hear yourself over the TV. When they came (rarely) to visit us, it was the same. My kids barely remember them now. They remember my parents much better because my parents taught them how to play cards and had board games they would play with them every visit.

Look at it this way - they're old, they won't live forever, and if this is how they want to be remembered by your children, then so be it. Mentioning it, or turning off your router (which won't work BTW) just makes you seem like a jerk.

Good point.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who would tell MIL not to visit? If they would rather spend all their time "with" the other grandkids then so be it. Why have them at your house if they aren't even going to engage?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, you sound completely crazy.