Time to start cleaning.
My in-laws are getting here tomorrow from Ohio. And they are staying for five days. Ohio. Round on the ends and "hi" in the middle.
We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. They are very sweet and very old school. My father-in-law repeats his jokes and stories, including saying that he needs to get new grandkids, ones who haven't heard all his jokes before, not that he needs new jokes. Har har. My mother-in-law says exactly what she thinks. There isn't much filtering. It makes it very easy to know where she stands. Very. For better or worse, it's out there.
My father-in-law likes to have political "discussions" with my husband and the two are mostly opposites. (My in-laws have a lovely signed photo of the Bushes right inside the front door of their home.) The debate style is less than refined. It's not pretty. I walk away, and my mother-in-law usually follows. My husband can't resist, he is like a moth drawn to the flame... "look away from the light," I say... but, no. They will never sway each other to another way of thinking, I guess it's like a sport.
The kids love seeing their grandparents. The grandparents love to play lots of games. A common invitation is, "Who wants to get beat at Rummy?" Or Euchre? Or Dominoes? Or Go fish? Or Othello? Or... You get the picture. They love their games.
All that unbridled, unrestrained honesty and opinion will certainly come out in one way (or a million) with regard to the Foreign Service. I have discussed this before in a previous post and it was discussed in EF'M: The life of an FSO Spouse. It is tricky, explaining why we are doing this, something different, something unfathomable to people who want us close and accessible. Moving to unknown places, meeting unknown people, learning unknown languages. (Yeah, I know, smarty-pants, they aren't unknown, except to us.) I think my in-laws are perfectly happy knowing the people that they know now, up to this point in their lives, why would they need to meet anyone else? Go anywhere else? They've got six kids. That's six places to visit. That's enough.
I am getting myself prepared for the question to be asked (again), "Why in the world would you want to go and drag your family around the world? Is anything wrong with right here? Personally, I don't see why people are so gung-ho about travel."
"Did I ever tell you the one about the priest and the..."
9 comments:
I'm getting nervous your in-laws are my parents...
I got asked, when I joined, why I wanted to "join Bush's war machine." I said to be with my wife (and I considered, since this was a professor, saying, and to earn twice what I could as a professor).
My in-laws, on the other hand, think State is a bastion of liberalism and has turned their daughter into a left wing wacko.
Funny how the distance makes those jokes funnier and unfiltered opionions more endearing. (I think all of our parents & in-laws are in the same club). The answer to why you're joining State Dept. will be a little easier to answer after they visit you in your big house and see how great your kids are doing in their very nice private schools.
NKL
LOL, Naoma!
I just popped in to say that my whole extended family hails from Indiana, so when I saw the part about playing games - especially card games - especially EUCHRE - I got all jealous. EUCHRE! My family's reason for living! (Well, "horse euchre," to be exact, but plain euchre is halfway there!)
Love the midwest game playing thing. Totally grew up that way. Awesome stuff!
Loved the blog title! So witty!
My dad is from Toledo and every single trip to visit the relatives started off with the "Ohio joke" as it came to be known.
Oh, and I agree with Naoma about the house and schools. It also doesn't hurt when the maid irons their clothes, or you show them around the Embassy.
My favorite quote from my father-in-law (after viewing my older daughter's school presentation...lucky they planned it during his trip to Reykjavik), "This place beats the pants off any school back home!" If he had any doubts about us going overseas, they were erased for good at that point!
So, would it be wrong to tell them that you're joining the FS so you can get as far away from them as possible?
Enjoy your holiday. You'll miss them when you're in Ougadougou.
And hey - @ Daring Adventure - there's a whole group in Beijing that plays Euchre. They stopped inviting me because I Just. Don't. Understand. the rules. (or maybe it was because I tell the same jokes over and over - not 100% sure about that.)
I have a feeling if my in-laws can't drive to visit us in their Lincoln they won't be visiting. But I may be wrong.
Hopefully they will visit, at least for the grandkids. My mom will NOT get on a plane for any reason. Four years and she has yet to visit us, even when we explained there was no way we could afford 6 tickets back to the states from Germany but we could easily afford one ticket for her to come visit us. She sends me every anti-Obama/pro-republican forward that crosses her computer screen. I love her dearly, but she is driving me nuts!
I didn't know your husband and my wife were siblings :)
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