Perhaps it was the excellent wine last night (or the fact that there was any wine at all...not sure), but things went swimmingly smooth with MIL. I enjoyed myself! Yay! FIL wasn't there, and DH mentioned that both of them behave better when it's only one of them. He thinks they tag team me, lol. He explained that I am outnumbered when they are both around because they feed off of one another. MIL said all the usual things, "Oh...your mom sees her ALL the time...and I don't..." but there was no one to pat her on the back and say, "Yeah, us GA GPs get the shaft, our GKs will never know us..." Not sure if that's the case, but I'll know here in another few weeks.
Instead, that happened and I said, "Not really. I've seen my mom 3 times this year...that's the same amount of time that we've seen you." I handled it. I handled it honestly (although I'm a little afraid that she'll be fishing to add to her scoreboard in the future...but there's not much I can do about the truth...honesty is the best policy, she'll do with it what she will). It was SOOO nice to be able to just hear something, address it, have her BELIEVE me...and move on. (I credit a vintage white wine for this casual, nonchalant exhange, lol).
DD finally got to spend time with MIL and actually enjoyed herself. I didn't realize it, but I always felt like MIL was fighting me for the baby. I wonder if it is possible that she is fighting someone for the baby, just not me. I didn't realize how much less DD was passed around last night and how much more of a good time both she and MIL had b/c they actually got to know one another instead of switching laps and arms every 2 minutes (FIL does this thing where he holds the baby for two seconds and then passes her off...and then changes his mind...it goes on and on). Plus, DD added body language to her communication...instead of just crying, she also reached for me when she had enough...she points down when she wants you to put her down...there's not much room for argument and debate when the child herself is giving you the cues. What a relief!
The infuriating "my baby" statements likely will come to an end. Not because they bothered me (well, not because MIL knew they bothered me), but b/c apparently if done to excess, they bother everyone else. A situation was taken care of, and not by either DH or myself...that's awesome! I got lucky with that one.
Really, it went so nice that I might actually look forward to seeing MIL next time. To go from dread to ambivalence to some sort of positive emotion at that prospect is a pretty big deal! Again, I think it's because of you ladies. I was at ease despite the usual nonsense, and for the first time in 6 years, I feel as if I was finally myself around MIL. Can't say it will always be like that, but at least it was for a moment or two.
