Anonymous wrote:Pretty much every year Mother’s Day goes like this for my brother: He invites our mom out to brunch/lunch on Saturday. I’m usually invited with them, rarely we bring our kids and spouses. It’s always a nice afternoon centered around mom and her children. We usually wander to a park after we eat to walk around, sometimes grabbing dessert.
On Sunday in the past he’s watched the kids while his wife visits her mom for brunch. But in the past two years he’s been tagging along because they’ve made it a larger family reunion-type gathering now that there are more grandkids.
(FWIW, I’d say 50/50 on Sunday I will also visit my mom, but it depends on how my week ahead looks. I did visit with her briefly this year.)
My mom can’t get over the fact that my brother spends MD with SIL’s mom and not her. She cries fat tears and will complain about it for weeks. I’m so sick of hearing about it. He has a wife with kids and that’s his main priority, and it should be! I want to speak up on my brother’s behalf and put her in her place, but first I need to know if the way we treat MD sounds fair. What do you think?
Dang, I just want to say that I agree with you. I'm not sure how to proceed but I feel like you "get it". You are on the "right side" but I'm not sure how much good putting Mom in her place will do.
I often have these types of scenarios in my family of origin and want to engage but know from past experiences the other people ("your mom" in this situation) will go off the rails and act crazy. So I typically don't really engage.