In the name of trying to smooth things over with my husband’s family, I agreed to go to St. Louis. It’s a major inconvenience and it’s kind of awkward with my in-laws, but I am trying. I’m really trying.
The day went well overall. Fun Sink really wanted us to go tour some Anheuser-Busch farm, but I didn’t want to support it because of the whole Bud Light thing. Sorry not sorry, but Dylan Mulvaney mocks women and I just didn’t want to support it. She kept pushing and pushing us to go, but we held firm and told her to go without us. She waited for us at the hotel, thinking she could strong-arm us, but we turned the car around when we saw their car at the hotel. We drove to Wash U to walk around.
Dinner at a bbq place was fine. The kids went for a night swim. All was going well. And then I really messed up, y’all. I messed up big time, and she is not happy.
It all started when I walked down to the lobby of this Hampton Inn to get a shower cap, and saw that it was “cookie hour.” I grabbed a couple of cookies for my husband, and thought about taking some to the kids, but I knew Fun Sink wouldn’t like that, so I didn’t do it. Because I’m trying here.
When I got back upstairs, my youngest was in my room (visiting from the cousins’ room down the hall). I said, “Hey—come with me and I’ll take you somewhere fun.” And we went to cookie hour. I thought it would be our little secret.
We sat in the lobby while she ate her cookie and gave me sage advice about not worrying so much what Fun Sink thinks. When it was time to go upstairs, she wanted to grab cookies to take to everyone. She wanted to return to the cousins’ room a hero, bearing cookies for all. How could I say no?
I carried the cookies upstairs discreetly. When we got to the room I handed them to Youngest and she passed them out to all the cousins, who were delighted. Everybody was having fun and eating cookies and it was just a cute moment and a nice memory.
Until Fun Sink walked in.
She smelled the joy and cookies a mile away and came from her adjoining room. She immediately surmised the situation, and she gave me the most DISGUSTED look. Like just absolute disgust. It was hands down the dirtiest look I have ever received. Pure disgust, and she was not trying to hide it.
I quickly kissed my kids and the cousins goodnight and got out, laughing all the way down the hall.
A few minutes later Youngest came down the hall knocking. She said Fun Sink gave her a disgusted dirty look, too. Youngest just shrugged and threw up her hands, and said, “It was cookie hour.”
It’s just funny at the point. Who is she to say when my kids can and can’t eat cookies? She’s no one, that’s who. She is not the ultimate authority, and that’s what she hates. It kills her that she’s not their mom. She also hates that I being fun and joy and all the kids love me. She hates that I can make decisions about my kids that she disagrees with, and she can’t do anything about it.
She’s really missing out on fun and sweet memories with her family, because she can’t just lighten up. She’s missing out on a relationship with me, too. I’m sure she saw this as me trying to undermine her (I found out later that my FIL wanted to take the kids to cookie hour, but she vetoed it.) She looks for the worst, she assumes bad intentions from me. It’s her loss.
St. Louis is actually sort of fun. I get to be with my kids and my niece and nephew, and we’re having fun! And I’ve once again angered Fun Sink by simply existing.
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