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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Holiday stress has officially started...my in-laws have decided to spend Christmas with my kids for the first time and, while I'm thrilled that my kids will finally get some holiday time with that set of grandparents, I'm trying to figure out whether or not I can tell my MIL she cannot bring her iPad to our house.

The last time they stayed with us, it became quite clear to me that MIL has a screen-time addiction, which resulted in my girls being ignored for the duration of the visit while she FaceTimed with grandkids in other states multiple times per day or played computer games once other grandkids' parents stopped picking up their phones. My kids have always been treated as the 'second rate' grandkids by my MIL (which is why this sudden holiday visit is such a shock to me) and I have accepted the fact that they'll always be ignored by her at family get-togethers where her other grandkids are present, but I'm having trouble swallowing the fact that she's now found a way to ignore them in favor of the other grandkids even when the others aren't physically present. When staying at our house, she literally cannot go more than a couple hours without contacting other grandkids to FaceTime, and wasn't able to participate in activities with my children without iPad in hand so that another grandkid or two could also be a participant.

I should mention that in-laws drive all the way from Atlanta to visit us, so I find it strange that she puts herself through such a long drive only to spend the majority of her visit talking into a 4-inch screen instead of making an effort to spend quality time with the children she only sees a few times a year.

This is not how I want to spend Christmas, and I really don't want my daughters (both are toddlers) to be taught that Christmas should revolve around an electronic device. My older daughter is very inquisitive and demands an excessive amount of screen time for herself when under MIL's influence, and I really don't want our holidays to become consumed by screen time. [b]Last time my in-laws were here, there were times when my 3-year-old was literally putting toys in her grandma's lap, only to have my MIL shoo her away because the game of Solitaire she was playing was more important. [/b]

Probably worth mentioning that my MIL has an extreme lack of self control, so telling her she can bring the iPad but must limit the use of it won't work. If the device is in the house, she'll need it to be in her possession at all time--it will be joining us at the dinner table for holiday meals, present opening time will need to be scheduled around when other grandkids are available, and any other holiday activities will take a backseat to FaceTime. I had planned to tell her the iPad needed to be left at home on her next visit because it created such a problem last time she was here, but now that the next visit is taking place on a major holiday makes me feel like it's unfair to cut her off from her precious FaceTime app...[/quote]

This a lesson your daughter will need to learn sooner or later so your MIL might be doing you a favor here. The the lesson is - your daughter is not the centre of the universe. Other people - even those closest to her - have their own interests, and those will not always take the back seat.[/quote]

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