Anonymous
Post 12/29/2016 09:16     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
What is it with the no vegetables??? My MIL came last year with the express intent of cooking dinner for the kids b.c DH was travelling and I work 12 hour shifts. I planned easy meals like spaghetti and frozen peas. She made the main course but she never made the vegetables! And our kids are decent about eating veggies. Weird.
Anonymous
Post 12/29/2016 08:46     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:wow... i'm speechless reading through 8 pages in this thread. I probably would become a mass murderer by the end of 3rd day if I were to stay in any of these houses!

Is this a common normal American family??


No, darling. Like every DCUM thread, only the people with something to tell pipe up on the thread. The normals don't have anything to contribute. Nobody wants to hear of when I go to MIL's and her housekeeper keeps everything clean, fridge is stocked with things we like and she is very concerned that the temps are what we like and we all have enough fluffy towels...


Something those of us who posted on this thread can only dream about....
Anonymous
Post 12/29/2016 08:00     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:wow... i'm speechless reading through 8 pages in this thread. I probably would become a mass murderer by the end of 3rd day if I were to stay in any of these houses!

Is this a common normal American family??


No, darling. Like every DCUM thread, only the people with something to tell pipe up on the thread. The normals don't have anything to contribute. Nobody wants to hear of when I go to MIL's and her housekeeper keeps everything clean, fridge is stocked with things we like and she is very concerned that the temps are what we like and we all have enough fluffy towels...
Anonymous
Post 12/29/2016 06:56     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
4 of us sleeping in one small narrow room with beds so close they touch - pack n play/twin/toddler inflatable/pull out chair thing. I love my in-laws but I have never been happier to be home.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 23:46     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:300+ Hummel figurines. Shelves and shelves of them. FIL said they could be ours someday and may be worth tens of thousands (not).


This makes me think of the movie the 40-Year Old Virgin and his collectibles.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 23:39     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
300+ Hummel figurines. Shelves and shelves of them. FIL said they could be ours someday and may be worth tens of thousands (not).
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:55     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Where do I begin?
Staying at ILs tiny house (total of 4 adults, 3 little kids). We sleep on bunks, or the floor while MIL sleeps on the couch (her choice). So we have to be super quiet in the morning so as not to wake her. The house is old and drafty, and super dry with high heat. We all scratch from dry skin by the time we leave. They are hoarders, so every inch of the house is filled with stuff. We're not allowed to move anything to or down our suitcases, wet towels, etc.
Also, MIL has 1,000 chatkis (?) and refuses to put them away when we visit. We have 2 toddlers!
BIL built a big house down the road and they have kids (my kids' cousins). We have asked them if our kids can do a sleep over at least one night - and we have hinted we would love to stay with them - but no dice. They don't like to have people at their house.
Uf.


Why do you and your DH put your DCs at risk by staying with them? Seriously. You need to put your kids first and not expose them to such a dangerous living environment. Can you afford a hotel and have inlaws visit you there?


I am the OP of this first thread. I reread it and realized I may have exaggerated: these people are probably not hoarders as much as they are extreme collectors of LOTS of stuff and cannot discard anything.
So: our guest room daybed (for my DH and I) is in a room with a full set of furniture (dresser, nightstand, armoire) and all of these are filled with MIL's clothes and jewelry. The surfaces are covered in her perfumes, more jewelry and collectibles. When I move something, to let's say, put down my watch or eyeglasses overnight, somehow the next day the perfumes, etc have all made their way back to the original places on the dresser. It's like she can sense when anything has been moved in this house.

And the kicker is - whenever I pose to her, 'may I move x item?' so the kids won't break it, she coldly retorts that 'she raised two boys in this house with lots of breakables and NOTHING was ever broken.


Gauntlet thrown, eh?
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:46     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Where do I begin?
Staying at ILs tiny house (total of 4 adults, 3 little kids). We sleep on bunks, or the floor while MIL sleeps on the couch (her choice). So we have to be super quiet in the morning so as not to wake her. The house is old and drafty, and super dry with high heat. We all scratch from dry skin by the time we leave. They are hoarders, so every inch of the house is filled with stuff. We're not allowed to move anything to or down our suitcases, wet towels, etc.
Also, MIL has 1,000 chatkis (?) and refuses to put them away when we visit. We have 2 toddlers!
BIL built a big house down the road and they have kids (my kids' cousins). We have asked them if our kids can do a sleep over at least one night - and we have hinted we would love to stay with them - but no dice. They don't like to have people at their house.
Uf.


Why do you and your DH put your DCs at risk by staying with them? Seriously. You need to put your kids first and not expose them to such a dangerous living environment. Can you afford a hotel and have inlaws visit you there?


I am the OP of this first thread. I reread it and realized I may have exaggerated: these people are probably not hoarders as much as they are extreme collectors of LOTS of stuff and cannot discard anything.
So: our guest room daybed (for my DH and I) is in a room with a full set of furniture (dresser, nightstand, armoire) and all of these are filled with MIL's clothes and jewelry. The surfaces are covered in her perfumes, more jewelry and collectibles. When I move something, to let's say, put down my watch or eyeglasses overnight, somehow the next day the perfumes, etc have all made their way back to the original places on the dresser. It's like she can sense when anything has been moved in this house.

And the kicker is - whenever I pose to her, 'may I move x item?' so the kids won't break it, she coldly retorts that 'she raised two boys in this house with lots of breakables and NOTHING was ever broken.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:31     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
My father in law removed all the outlets in the guest room after my first child was born. If I want to charge my phone I have to use the one in the bathroom and put my phone in the sink. Alternative is an extension chord which is more dangerous around kids and defeats the whole purpose.

Two years ago they threw away all the furniture except for a love seat and two hard chairs. each bedroom has a mattress on the floor and nothing else. As a joke my BIL bought inflatable furniture last year. I'm sure they tossed it the day we left.

We made our excuses this year.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:15     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:Their landline keeps ringing. My parents.


this happens at my MIL's place, but it's usually creditors looking for my BIL or his exes
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:11     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Their landline keeps ringing. My parents.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 22:06     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is one of the best threads I've ever read on dcum


+1


+2

I live near parents and in laws so mercifully don't have to deal with this. But one if my favorite things is how my dad obsessively turns off lights. Recently he even did it will DH and I were sitting in a room. He just came in and shut off ask the lights so we were sitting in the dark. He is also super cheap and wears clothes from 70s and 80s when pleats were in style and he was much heavier. He looks like he has puffy pants on at am times.
Once DH and I did amass freezer clean at parents house. Frozen food was 10 years old.

Another thing I love about parents house is ancient exercise equipment the hasn't been touched in 15 years.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 21:55     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
We also froze. Sister keeps the temp at 62 during the day. To compensate for the cold, she piles on the plush throws. She must have close to 30 of them, just in the living room. We had five of them and a down comforter on the bed and were still cold at night, when I swear it was closer to 55. Our baby had to sleep in her plush footie jacket.
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 21:51     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:This is one of the best threads I've ever read on dcum


+1
Anonymous
Post 12/28/2016 21:35     Subject: tell me what's odd about where you're staying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:MIL always trying to show off. She bought a new china cabinet and stored her "good china" in there. After dinner she was serving tea and announced that she was going to let us use the good china. I was sipping tea from my cup and realized there was a TJ Maxx price tag in my cup and in everyone's cup. She didn't even wash the cups!


You are a real b----, hope you choked at that price tag. so what if her "good china" is from TJ Maxx. Yes, she should have washed them first, but get over yourself.


I have bought a lot of china there and they never put the price tag IN the cup. On the side or bottom, yes.


They put them in the cup (and bowls) too. It's really annoying. Seems those are harder to pull off than when it's on the bottom.