Tales from the beach house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach vacation with my husband, kids and ILs (FIL/MIL, older aunt/cousin, SIL and her wife and kid). All is going well, and we are having fun. But I thought I'd send some dispatches:

1) SIL's wife is pregnant and is making much of it. She sleeps all day/stays in her room, doesn't watch her 1.5 year old AT ALL, and has her wife running all over at her beck and call: bringing her food, doing her laundry, making special requests like "no coffee this morning, please, my wife is feeling nauseous." We are all rolling with it, but come ON. You are pregnant, it's really not that big a deal.


2) FIL's kitchen habits are kind of funny but kind of gross: microwaving coffee in the late afternoon that had been sitting cold still on the burner all day; standing in the kitchen eating rather than ever sitting down.

3) MIL pretending never to eat indulgent food or drink alcohol, but indulging at every opportunity. It's OK! You can eat and drink, we won't judge!

4) The aunt is a crazy cat lady: any time any of the kids do or say something cute, she launches into a story about her 7 cats. She FaceTimes with her cats via the pet-sitter twice daily.

1) wait, they're saying she doesn't want coffee, or that no one in the house should brew coffee?

2) that's really not that bad at all. at least he's not wasting or hogging the best sofa in the house like other people i've gone on vacation with.

OP here. Yeah, they're saying no one should brew coffee because SIL's wife (who is sleeping in on the lower third level and the kitchen is on the top floor) might smell it.

Wait, I can't have my morning coffee because some woman forgot to take her birth control?!?! A treat for me!

That's a non-starter - I don't think I'd even dignify it with a response, and go about brewing my morning fix.

You're being glib but she didn't "forget to take her birth control" since she's a lesbian.

Sigh. It's an old George Carlin line. Is it really true?
Is comedy really dead?

[Anonymous]

All this talk about underwear brings to mind how women would not walk around their FIL etc. in a modest bra and panties but will walk in the room wearing a bikini. WTH is the difference?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Grandparents (DH's parents) told us our kids wandering around in their undies or just shorts inside their house made them uncomfortable. Now we are scrambling to keep them dressed without making them feel weird about their bodies but I can't explain why they want them in clothes because even when they explained it I didn't understand. I just agreed to keep the peace. We've just started saying "grandma wants it this way".

They are 8, 7 and 4 and my grandmother actually said 'she isn't wearing a shirt and she is a young woman!' about the 7 yr old. I corrected her and said 'no, she is a little girl' but I don't want you uncomfortable so that's fine. They are all very skinny- as are his parents- no boobs in sight.

To be clear, it's just us and the grandparents. No visitors/other family. No huge windows where people can see in. My DH is perplexed and we are trying to think where/why this came from. They've never said a thing in our house in DC when they were shirtless. I'm starting to wonder if someone touched grandma as a child

Uh, yeah, they should be clothed at that age, PP.

OP here, and I agree with the PP who agrees that the kids at that age should be clothed. YOU are actually the weird one, no-clothes mom. People are writing about their ILs meaning YOU in this scenario. Why would they not be wearing clothes-clothes, bathing suits and cover ups, or pajamas at least?

I'm not no-clothes mum. Children do need clothes. They are clothed. In underwear, swim trunks or shorts on the bottom. For some reason that isn't enough. (I'm not talking about eating meals at the table without a shirt- we don't do that). Please explain because we are lost (and obviously DH grew up in their home and is annoyed but going along with it).

Actually, no they don't need to be clothed. This is why Americans are so hung up on sex - in Europe not a big deal. Good lord. They only need clothes when it is cold

This is what I am thinking. I was raised in Canada and the UK where nudity is not a big thing. I think I've rubbed off on DH because he doesn't care. Again, the kids aren't nude. but apparently pants/shorts aren't enough. It's not worth it to say anything, but I can't unknow this so when we get back home from the beach it will be on my mind any time the parents are over and my kids are bouncing around doing their underpants dance. /ooops

I would think based on the weather in both places it wouldn't be all that common.

Well you didn't ask a question there buddy but you would be wrong.

-another CDN who doesn't get the problem.

[Anonymous]

The problem with nudity is bodily fluids getting on furniture, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Someone denying "me" coffee would mean war.

I know, right? I totally sympathize with the nauseous pregnant lady. But dang I need my coffee. Take the pot outside and brew it on the balcony. Then bring it back inside and enjoy.

No way. Pregnant lady can go outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the no clothes in front of grandma and grandpa totally depends on how close you all are. I would never do this in front of my parents, but we hardly see them. Some grandparents are around all time and are truly like immediate family. In our home with just us, my kids run around in their underwear at times.

But even then, walking around naked in front of immediate family? We're not talking about in bathing suits right? We're talking straight up naked?

I think the kids had underwear/bathing suits in the original post. But I can't see the problem with being fully naked if the kid is happy with it. It's just a human body!

Because the grandparents are unhappy with it, and they get a vote too. In fact, as the elders, their vote counts more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the no clothes in front of grandma and grandpa totally depends on how close you all are. I would never do this in front of my parents, but we hardly see them. Some grandparents are around all time and are truly like immediate family. In our home with just us, my kids run around in their underwear at times.

But even then, walking around naked in front of immediate family? We're not talking about in bathing suits right? We're talking straight up naked?

I think the kids had underwear/bathing suits in the original post. But I can't see the problem with being fully naked if the kid is happy with it. It's just a human body!

Because the grandparents are unhappy with it, and they get a vote too. In fact, as the elders, their vote counts more.

Only if they are paying more or treating for the full trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL sent an advance email outlining all the rules for the long weekend getaway at their river house with extended family. It included a dress code for lunches and dinners that stated explicitly that no shorts were permitted. All males were to wear long pants and collared shirts to meals.

At a river house? I didn't know there were such things as river houses. But being from Missouri, I'm picturing something like what Huck Finn lived in before he ran away. At least, I'm thinking canoes and kayaks and fishing and kids catching tadpoles and crawdads. Seriously, where is this house located, and how posh is it that you must dress for lunch?

I need more information on this trip!

[Anonymous]

It's funny how we are a united front against the no coffee lady.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Someone denying "me" coffee would mean war.

I know, right? I totally sympathize with the nauseous pregnant lady. But dang I need my coffee. Take the pot outside and brew it on the balcony. Then bring it back inside and enjoy.

No way. Pregnant lady can go outside.

Oh, come on. You don't make a woman with morning sickness drag herself out of bed and away from the toilet, out onto the balcony while you brew your coffee inside like a big old jerk. Just take the pot outside, sit on the balcony enjoying the sunrise while your coffee brews next to you. You won't even have to get up to pour yourself a cup. Just sit there enjoying that salty sea air with the smell of fresh coffee wafting in the wind - absolute heaven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just went on vacation with my parents. The comments made about food was absurd. My poor teenagers! My mom kept badgering my kids to eat walnuts saying it was good for their eyesight.

I'm cracking up at this mental image! What else?

NP here but my MIL is the same way. She is after me to feed DD coconut oil to stave off tantrums. She is always going on about whatever foods Drs Oz and Weil say will cure [insert any issue] this week, because antioxidants. Walnuts are definitely on the list. I don't care what she eats but I am sick to death of hearing about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Someone denying "me" coffee would mean war.

I know, right? I totally sympathize with the nauseous pregnant lady. But dang I need my coffee. Take the pot outside and brew it on the balcony. Then bring it back inside and enjoy.

No way. Pregnant lady can go outside.

Oh, come on. You don't make a woman with morning sickness drag herself out of bed and away from the toilet, out onto the balcony while you brew your coffee inside like a big old jerk. Just take the pot outside, sit on the balcony enjoying the sunrise while your coffee brews next to you. You won't even have to get up to pour yourself a cup. Just sit there enjoying that salty sea air with the smell of fresh coffee wafting in the wind - absolute heaven.

So we should run an extension cord to the balcony to brew coffee and the rest of the house of 10+ adults should sit outside while the one person bothered by it sits inside? You're kidding right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Someone denying "me" coffee would mean war.

I know, right? I totally sympathize with the nauseous pregnant lady. But dang I need my coffee. Take the pot outside and brew it on the balcony. Then bring it back inside and enjoy.

No way. Pregnant lady can go outside.

Oh, come on. You don't make a woman with morning sickness drag herself out of bed and away from the toilet, out onto the balcony while you brew your coffee inside like a big old jerk. Just take the pot outside, sit on the balcony enjoying the sunrise while your coffee brews next to you. You won't even have to get up to pour yourself a cup. Just sit there enjoying that salty sea air with the smell of fresh coffee wafting in the wind - absolute heaven.

So we should run an extension cord to the balcony to brew coffee and the rest of the house of 10+ adults should sit outside while the one person bothered by it sits inside? You're kidding right?

Use the outdoor outlet. Or run an extension cord. Brew the pot outside. People can come out and get a cup and go back inside. It is the brewing that is making the pregnant woman sick. So a small effort on your part to avoid that would be nice.

[Anonymous]

I am allergic to the smell of fresh coffee...just a delightful allergy to have. You think avoiding nuts is hard!

If it makes grandparents uncomfortable, put a shirt on. Your kids will survive wearing a shirt.

My family weekend at the beachhouse led to me seething with rage at my SIL and sending her texts that should never have been sent...but they were true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Someone denying "me" coffee would mean war.

I know, right? I totally sympathize with the nauseous pregnant lady. But dang I need my coffee. Take the pot outside and brew it on the balcony. Then bring it back inside and enjoy.

No way. Pregnant lady can go outside.

Oh, come on. You don't make a woman with morning sickness drag herself out of bed and away from the toilet, out onto the balcony while you brew your coffee inside like a big old jerk. Just take the pot outside, sit on the balcony enjoying the sunrise while your coffee brews next to you. You won't even have to get up to pour yourself a cup. Just sit there enjoying that salty sea air with the smell of fresh coffee wafting in the wind - absolute heaven.

So we should run an extension cord to the balcony to brew coffee and the rest of the house of 10+ adults should sit outside while the one person bothered by it sits inside? You're kidding right?

Use the outdoor outlet. Or run an extension cord. Brew the pot outside. People can come out and get a cup and go back inside. It is the brewing that is making the pregnant woman sick. So a small effort on your part to avoid that would be nice.

Sorry, you're wrong. I would not be inconveniencing the whole house over someone's deliberate choice to get pregnant.