Know your Man: Relatives

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring close-knit family in another city.” ~ George Burns

”Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who haven't got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die.” ~ Oscar Wilde

We need to trade tolerance. Though there are people we get along greatly, in every family, especially the one that is not ours, it is sometimes difficult to tolerate some of the members, mainly the ones we consider boring or nosy. No one disagrees with me on this one, I am sure.

Marianne was complaining that her brother-in-law came for a several-days visit while her husband was working. Since she has little to talk to him, or so she thinks, she confined herself in her bedroom for days, and would only get out of it to cook dinner for the husband.

This situation was unnerving for her and she could not stop feeling victimized because of this guest. Now, couldn’t she have made the best of it, learned to appreciate another human being who is, after all, part of her family, and enjoy the visit? What kind of behavior is this, leaving a guest to fend for himself and providing food and company only when it was in her best interest to do so? Where are the laws of common courtesy?

Like everyone, I, too, have my own “his/hers relatives” stories. A former mother-in-law (I had two) used to come to my house and bring old bread… nah… this is a mother-in-law story and will be discussed in another article.

A Word of Advice:

Ladies and Gents: Decide before the first big argument regarding relatives, how you will deal with the relatives. They are real, they will not disappear, and they are dear to each of you. Compromise and by that I do not mean: You shall put up with my relatives as long as no relative of yours ever visits us.

Now, if you have already had your argument about relatives, you are a little late for a first compromise, but not for a subsequent one. Sign a contract expressing exactly what you both expect in terms of courteous behavior.