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[quote=Anonymous]I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat except it's my parents who are the religious ones. My mother has become more and more religious as the years pass-- and yup, politics, social issues and all are the focal point of most discussions. I know she wants to be a good grandmother but I will have to draw the line at some point. Now with a grandchild on the way, she's going to be tapping her feet anxiously for a baptism date and then after that insist our kid gets his/her weekly religious ed classes. Luckily, we plan on moving a good distance away in a year or two due to DH's job, so she won't be able to push it much unless she calls us every day (we're free to not listen and tell her dinner's on the table, we must go) or wants to spend a fortune flying across the country to indoctrinate our child. That said, I'd put it all on her. If she feels she needs to send your child religious gifts, so be it-- your child won't even know what this stuff is for years-- but its not your job to ensure your child follows grandma's beliefs to a T.

The fact that you see them only once or twice a year is in your favor, and when you do see them after baby is born and you see your ILs getting out of hand, remind them gently that they are welcome to take your child to church temple or wherever but you'd like to see them cultivate other memories with your child besides religious ones such as taking your child to the park or out for ice cream. Would they want your child to remember grandma as the woman who couldn't stop talking about religion, because that's what will happen, and the result will be a very shallow, narrow relationship. That's the route I'm going to take with my mother if/when she gets out of control with religion. Unfortunately, the "you respect me I respect you line" doesn't work with my mother. Most of what she says regarding religion sounds very scripted, ramblings about eternal life and Christ's love and what not, as if it came straight from a book or last week's homily, and if DC is a smart kid, they'll see right through it. [/quote]

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