Reply to Playing "dumb and cheery/happy" with in laws

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The dumb is another way of saying “disengaged.”  This advice doesn’t work for ILs who are openly hostile, but for most families passive aggression is how people are mean to one another in person.  That means that the literal words they said are not hurtful, only the context and subtext make it hurtful or critical.

The advice to “act dumb” is another way of saying that you should be deliberately obtuse and refuse to see/hear/acknowledge any negative subtext.  It robs the passive agressor of their power, because PA is meant to hurt your feelings while maintaining plausible deniability (“All I said was...”).  If you refuse to respond to the subtext, then one of two things will happen: they will stand there and look baffled and the conversation moves on, or they will escalate into open hostility and reveal themselves.  In the first case, it keeps things pleasant enough that your kids and spouse can enjoy time with these family members even if you don’t.  In the second case, it may ruin the event but in such a way that you are not viewed as the bad guy.  If you go the traditional route of responding to each PA comment, you run into situations where YOU look like the jerk.

The “cheery” part is again about managing how YOU look to your spouse, kids and other family members.  If you give flat or grumpy sounding responses then it seems plausible that you may be antagonizing the problem IL.  If you are consistently a ray of sunshine, then the problem IL looks like they are insane when they take umbrage at your *perfectly innocent* reply ro their literal questions/comments.

So:

“What an interesting dress.”
Responding to subtext: “What is that supposed to mean?”
Responding to literal meaning: “Oh thanks!  It’s really fun, isn’t it?”

You’re still giving Larla breast milk?  
Responding to subtext: “Our pediatrician says it’s fine and please don’t question our choices.”
Responding to literal meaning: “Yep.”

You are so lucky to have a husband who makes dinner every Friday.  How nice of him to slave over a hot stove every single week.  I always had dinner on the table when I was raising my kids.
Responding to subtext: “Just because you were a slave to your children doesn’t mean it’s right.”
Responding to literal meaning: “Really?  What did you like to cook?”
[/quote]

This! Kill them with bland kindness.[/quote]

+1
This is my modus operandi too for all similar friends and family drama. [/quote]

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