In-laws (Rant # 1)

I don’t have what you would call a great relationship with my in-laws. I’m not one to call my mother-in-law up just to say “Hi” or take her out to lunch. My relationship with them is good and I guess normal in some cases. I am polite and nice when I’m around them, we talk about what’s new and that’s pretty much it. I can’t say that we have much in common. I’ve known them for 11 years and feel like we should be closer, but we’re not and that’s okay. They are very opinionated people….they think they know it all about everything. I feel like they look at Greg and I as still children. No matter what we do or suggest to them, it never seems to be good enough or right. Even though we are right sometimes, we are still talked to like we have no fucking clue. For years I’ve seen them put Greg and his brothers down. No matter what…it never seems to be good enough. They always have an opinion about everything. Now don’t get me wrong, they are supportive sometimes, but most of the time it comes with a comment or two.

A month or so ago, his parents tell us that they’ve been looking at this ranch house a few miles away from where they live now. At that time they starting moving 100mph to get their current home fixed up. Suddenly things that had been an issue with their home for years were now fixed. Next thing we know, they put a bid on the house and it got accepted. The price of this house is outrageous, for what I call a really basic home. There are no upgrades to this house….nothing that makes you go wow!!! They could have bided much lower then what they did and still would have gotten the home. But nope… they did it their way. So now they go to settlement on this house next Friday and will start moving in after Christmas.
If you ask me, I don’t think they thought about what the hell they were getting themselves into when they bought this house. They signed the contract on this house before their current house was even ready to go on the market. They just put it up for sale last week. And for about $30,000 less then what they should try to sell it for. The realtor they are using is taking them for a ride and feeding them every BS line in the book. They are listening to her and not taking anything that Greg, I or anyone else is saying into consideration.

The last time we were at his parent’s house, they pretty much fought with Greg about what he was saying about the comps this realtor pulled for them. The comps she pulled were for homes in other areas of Delaware that didn’t even compare to their house. Nothing remotely close to the land or what their house has to offer. So Greg voiced his concerns about the comps and offered some information to them about what he seen about the recent housing market in the area. Don’t you know his parents pretty much chopped him off at the knee and squashed him like a bug. Short from telling him that he doesn’t know what the F-he’s talking about. That was the last time he really had any conversations with his parents about this move. He could care less about what they do now and doesn’t want anything to do with helping them move.

It’s probably safe to say that it’s the changed the way he looks at his parents now and his relationship with them. Greg has always tried to do well in everything that he does and prove to them that he knows what he’s talking about. All he’s ever done is try to make them proud of the man that he’s become… but no matter what, they always seem to find a way to knock him down. Like I’ve said, I’ve seen this go on for years. I’ve been a victim of the put downs (that’s another blog to follow) too. It makes me sad to see him hurt and angry at his parents. I just wonder if they have any clue that what they say hurts the people around them. As I will write in my next blog…I will probably be the one to call them out one day about what they do to people. One day they will open that door for me with a snide comment, and I’ll be ready to chop them off at their knee and squash them like a bug.