Nobody makes you crazier than family...

...and since my siblings and parents are an ocean and a continent (plus a small island) away, it can only be my in-laws. 

My sister-in-law has not spoken to my father-in-law since August of last year.  Though spilling the beans on the reason for the family feud would, no doubt, boost readership of my blog, it's not my gossip to share.  Suffice it to say that he is mostly wrong but partly right and too stubborn to bend.  She is mostly right but also slightly wrong, and it is really none of her business.  And she inherited the stubborn gene from her father so also will not bend.  It's a messy situation that makes it hard for the rest of the family to function normally.

I had a little conversation with her about how disgusted she is with her mother right now.  She's very angry because "Mum is putting her husband before her own children, and that's just not right."

I feel like I should mention at this point that my sister-in-law is 28 years old.

I love my children to pieces.  I really do.  I would do anything for them, because they are my babies--my own flesh and blood.  And right now they are my number one priority because their father can, for the most part, take care of himself.  They cannot, because they are young and dependent.  But part of the reason I love my children so much is because I had them with the man I love more than anyone else in the whole world.  I'm not wishing their childhood away, but I am sincerely looking forward to the time when my relationship with my husband can take top priority again. 

When Dylan and Edith are grown up, will I put my husband before them? 

Um, is the Pope Catholic?

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only mother out there who feels this way.  Can I get an "Amen"?

I know that my mother loves me (and all my sisters and my brother as well).  I know she would do anything for me.  But I also know that I would never ask her to choose between me and her husband.  What a completely selfish thing to do!

Maybe my delightful sister-in-law's feelings will change once she has children of her own.  I really hope they do, because although you are always a mother, sooner or later you have to stop being "mommy" to your grown-up children.

All this from the girl who roundly criticized me for breastfeeding my daughter until she was nearly two.  Pardon my imagery, but you've gotta stop suckling at that (metaphorical) teat eventually. Personally, I think you ought to do it BEFORE you reach thirty.

Phew, I feel so much better now.
 
How funny that I felt the need to post this right before Mothering Sunday.
 
Hmmm...