My in-laws are moving this weekend, and they recuited my husband, J, to do all the heavy work. His brother lives 13 hours away, and his BIL had to work today, so it's just him and his parents.
Originally all of us were going to go, but our 3 yr old has a really bad cold. Plus with all the kids along, I'd be running crowd control instead of helping, so we're on our own this weekend.
I didn't have a problem with him helping, per se, and I LOVE my in-laws, but J has a really annoying habit when it comes to going to his parents' house. He likes to leave the SECOND he gets off work on Friday. Normally, it's just a minor annoyance. This time, though, we got in a HUGE fight about it. For one, I wanted to go grocery shopping before he left. Maybe I'm a horrible mother, but I'd rather chew my arm off with my bare teeth than take all these kids to the market by myself. Especially on a weekend.
I won the fight. Since his bag was packed anyway, I sent him on a guilt trip.
Works every time, and I got to shop in peace.
Fast forward to this morning....
I called J to see if, hypothetically, he could fix the pool pump cord if, hypothetically, his wife happened to run over it with the mower. Of course he can, because he's a brilliant man!
Then he asked if I wanted a set of glasses. Well sure. We have a concrete floor, so we can always use more glasses.
He called back a few minutes later to see if I wanted his mom's coffee tables. These are no ordinary coffee tables. They were bought in Germany when his dad was in the army, and shipped over here at great expense. The tops are glass-encased, and under the glass are little people and villages carved into the wood and stained red and green and yellow. They are EXTREMELY valuable, and I always assumed his parents would keep them until the day they died, but his mom knows I like them (and there's no room for them in the new house), so she thought I might want them now. I'm flattered! I think she's crazy, knowing how hard our kids are on furniture, but I'm flattered.
He called again an hour later and said his mom was going to talk to his dad about giving him his car. A car! But not just any car. It's a red 63 (67?) Ford Falcon. J has been lusting over this car since he was a kid, and now it might be his -- with the condition that if he ever wants to get rid of it, his dad has dibs. They were going to sell it, but his mom would rather keep it in the family. My 7 year is going to die of happiness because he, too, has been lusting over that car since first he laid eyes upon it.
Now I feel bad for giving J such a hard time about leaving when he did. But how was I to know he'd be coming home laden with coffee tables and glasses for his ungrateful wife?
At least he doesn't have to mow when he gets home.
Originally all of us were going to go, but our 3 yr old has a really bad cold. Plus with all the kids along, I'd be running crowd control instead of helping, so we're on our own this weekend.
I didn't have a problem with him helping, per se, and I LOVE my in-laws, but J has a really annoying habit when it comes to going to his parents' house. He likes to leave the SECOND he gets off work on Friday. Normally, it's just a minor annoyance. This time, though, we got in a HUGE fight about it. For one, I wanted to go grocery shopping before he left. Maybe I'm a horrible mother, but I'd rather chew my arm off with my bare teeth than take all these kids to the market by myself. Especially on a weekend.
I won the fight. Since his bag was packed anyway, I sent him on a guilt trip.
Fast forward to this morning....
I called J to see if, hypothetically, he could fix the pool pump cord if, hypothetically, his wife happened to run over it with the mower. Of course he can, because he's a brilliant man!
Then he asked if I wanted a set of glasses. Well sure. We have a concrete floor, so we can always use more glasses.
He called back a few minutes later to see if I wanted his mom's coffee tables. These are no ordinary coffee tables. They were bought in Germany when his dad was in the army, and shipped over here at great expense. The tops are glass-encased, and under the glass are little people and villages carved into the wood and stained red and green and yellow. They are EXTREMELY valuable, and I always assumed his parents would keep them until the day they died, but his mom knows I like them (and there's no room for them in the new house), so she thought I might want them now. I'm flattered! I think she's crazy, knowing how hard our kids are on furniture, but I'm flattered.
He called again an hour later and said his mom was going to talk to his dad about giving him his car. A car! But not just any car. It's a red 63 (67?) Ford Falcon. J has been lusting over this car since he was a kid, and now it might be his -- with the condition that if he ever wants to get rid of it, his dad has dibs. They were going to sell it, but his mom would rather keep it in the family. My 7 year is going to die of happiness because he, too, has been lusting over that car since first he laid eyes upon it.
Now I feel bad for giving J such a hard time about leaving when he did. But how was I to know he'd be coming home laden with coffee tables and glasses for his ungrateful wife?
At least he doesn't have to mow when he gets home.
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