What do they not understand about this?
This is minor, but it drives me up the wall every time we see my inlaws.
MIL was a SAHM who has never worked outside the home. I work fulltime in an office job. Four weeks paid vacation which, at my employer, have to be taken at specific times during the year. My folks are divorced and all three sets of parents (my mom, my dad, my in-laws) live in separate states. Every year I earmark a week of vacation time to see my mom, a week to see my dad, and two weeks to see my in-laws, who I would be happy to see less, but I do agree that if my family gets two weeks total, my husband's should, too. What about a vacation that doesn't involve traveling to see family at all? Ha, no. Not in the cards right now. Besides, our kids are young, our parents are old, and we do want grandparents and grandkids to have a relationship.
But every single time we talk to inlaws, MIL tearily talks about how we never see them. She is constantly suggesting we meet up for a weeklong trip in October (When the kids are in school?) or stay for an extra week in July (I can't take off in July), etc. Every single time, I have to remind her that when my vacation days run out, they are out, and I also have parents I would like to see. Every single time, she acts surprised and says, "Oh, of course," but within a few weeks she's emailing another travel package from Sam's Club that we could all take together.
This last time, I was near the point of expletives. "JFC, Dolores, what the eff are you not understanding about the situation?" The knife-twist is that she seems perfectly able to understand my husband's work limitations, but I swear to god, in her mind it's completely impossible that my own job is also a job -- and frankly, one that pays more than my husband's.
Thank you for this vent.