my weekend

I will forewarn you that I've had 3 glasses of wine to drink. Does that give you an indication of my weekend?

First of all, the baby girls are beautiful and healthy and it was pure joy to hold them and love on them. They looked like tiny angels in their christening gowns and were very well behaved when they got baptized this morning.

Now, here is the deal. Does anyone out there have issues with their child's in-laws? I sure hope so because I need some help with this particular area of my life. Here is a little bit of background: son's father-in-law is a doctor. Wife is an atypical doctor's wife. She isn't snobbish but basically doesn't pay much attention to me or Sam unless there is a crowd of people around. It's a public show of affection and appears to us to be very artificial. Well, the father-in-law has been very ill with the flu and we didnt' think he would be able to make it for the baptism. He did and we were glad for that because it would have been a disappointment for him to have missed that. Afterwards, we all met at son's house for lunch. Father-in-law, who has a BAD cough, is asked by his wife to carve the ham. The man is coughing into his hands which are then placed on said ham and he starts sawing away at this ham, all the while coughing and/or licking his fingers between slices. Sam notices and calls me aside to warn me not to eat said ham. I agree.

The in-laws are a large group. Daughter-in-law has 3 siblings and her grandparents are still living and they were all there today. There was only me, Sam, and our dear friend who is close to both sides of the family and she sort of acts like a buffer between the two. In-laws keep to themselves and entertain each other with stories and jokes and we are excluded. I got a huge lump in my throat at one point because I started wondering about my granddaughters and thought - "what if they want to be around that side of the family more than us because they are more boisterous and still have teenage kids at home to entertain them"? See where I'm going with this? I realize I am showing you my vulnerabilities here but I have to be honest. I feel jealous of so many things....the other grandma's sewing abilities, their affluence and ability to buy anything anyone in their family desires, etc. You may wonder why I feel so strongly about all of this. Well, I'll tell you. One of daughter-in-law's sisters made a comment about a month ago in front of Sam and me to her sister, our DIL. She said, "Please don't teach the girls to speak with a Southern accent or a twang." It really hurt my feelings and I wish I had spoken up then but I didn't. Their kids were born in Tennessee but the parents are from Ohio and don't have southern accents nor do any of the kids. I truly believe that they equate a southern accent with ignorance. Anyway, the other thing is that this morning, one of these sisters was overheard saying about my Sam - "He's wearing the same tie he wore to wedding". Now this was our son's wedding to their sister which was over a year ago. I was thinking..."how do you remember and why do you care?" It just shows that there is an underlying animosity there and for the life of me, I don't know where it came from. Sam and I are easy to get along with and had a sincere desire to be close to this family but they basically shun us. I don't say anything to our son because I don't want him to be caught in the middle but it's very hurtful.

I'm sorry to unload but that is what's weighing on my mind tonight. I would appreciate any feedback on this and especially if any of you share similar experiences.

I hope you have a restful night and I thank you for listening to me whine yet once again.

Leeann