This x 1,000,000 They have very important and stressful things to do than attend a party hat the guest of honor won't remember and will have no idea why all these people are here. I never understood the point of first birthday parties because they're obviously only for the parents. Therefore I don't understand why someone would be mad that others don't attend. |
I've never been to a first birthday party where the guest of honor was even awake for the whole thing! |
My daughter will have many birthdays God willing and will we celebrate each one? Probably not. Will we celebrate the first? Absolutely! Why? Because she will have many other birthdays that she will forget and that others will forget. But it was important for me (yes ME)i is to have our all of our family together for at least one. And for us that was her birthday. It was the only time aside from our wedding that both of our families have all been together.
Sure they visit her once a month and that's really nice but like I said, it is important to me to have our family together for gatherings and since we don't do it often, this one was important. There is no need for personal attacks. |
SO WHAT? It was important to you and it didn't happen. Ok. You are disappointed. Ok. But it's done and there is nothing you can do to change that. So move on. It seems like what you want instead is to drag your ILs over the coals for not living up to your expectations or for not having the exact same planning style and values as you. Bad idea. Let it go! |
This. OP, you are being unreasonable. Why not focus on the wonderful party you had and the guests that could be there. Are you always so easily offended? |
Who's keeping score? So far it's about 500 to 1. But OP's keeping up the fight. So tiresome. |
No need for personal attacks... except your own, on your in laws, of course. Plus the hand-wringing about how your husband's parents didn't bend to your specific wishes about your 1-year-old's birthday party. It's the only time THUS FAR that both your families have been together. If it's important to you to have family gatherings, host more family gatherings. If it's a priority to your family, they will show up. That your in laws called your husband to tell him they wouldn't be making it to the party tells us that a) they are communicating in a way that most of us would appreciate (I say this as the person who is the default communicator with DH's divorced parents, and it's a lot of work and quite annoying, even for someone who prioritizes family) and b) they knew that you would react in exactly the way you're reacting. You have a baby. It's a rough ride, but you know what? It isn't going to get less rough with this kind of attitude. If your husband's parents make an effort to be involved in your daughter's life regularly (even monthly is regular to a lot of us - I see my parents once a year if that), that means more than whether they show up to a party that your child won't remember. Do not alienate them over this. You will regret it. |
Dear OP,
You asked in the original post if you are "completely off base", and the unanimous opinion of DCUM is that you are wrong. Signed, Collective opinion of DCUM |
LMAO! I was just wondering the exact same thing! |
Is it just me or is 3 hours WAY too long for a one year old's birthday party? These poor inlaws came up with moving as an excuse to get out of it and it still wasn't good enough. |
It's not just you. Bonus points if the party occurred during naptime and the OP decided that her 1-year-old could handle it "because it's a special occasion." |
I haven't been on DCUM for several days, and this happened to be the very first thread I read today. Ahh, welcome back ![]() ![]() Yes OP, you are completely off base |
OP - did your ILs apologize to your DH for not coming? Did they say anything about not planning wisely? I'd be ticked too that they couldn't plan ahead and knew about this awhile ago. But, you can't say anything to them. This is between DH and his parents. If he feels hurt then he could say something to them but I doubt it would do any good. |
Clueless and doesn't get that everyone doesn't think or feel [b]exactly the same way as she does. |
Birthdays and holidays are important. TO YOU. You're not just wrong on this, you're being an asshole. Guess what? I am not sure if I even HAD a first birthday party. And the one picture I have of me at my second birthday party is on a swingset swing, by myself. I have no idea if any of my grandparents were there, and now they're all DEAD so I can't ask them. But I don't give a crap. I have years and years of great memories of spending time with them. I remember how I gave my grandma a horse sticker and she put it on her purse and kept it there for weeks. I remember holding my grandpa's hand when we crossed the street. I remember drying dishes in my other grandma's kitchen while she told me stories about when she was young. I remember my other grandpa telling dirty jokes in front of me. I don't feel any feelings about them coming or not coming to birthday parties. |