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For a long time I've tried my hardest to not complain to my wife about her parents despite all the $h!t and drama they put her though.
Current events has made me change.
First, they are nice people just my mother in law is a little "not all there" if you get what I mean. Her sister is also bipolar and has a very additive personality (for many years she "self medicated" with some very hard drugs - even though she's on meds now she still has a lot of emotional issues).
Let's go back 5 years.
We went over for Christmas and since we have the dogs we slept in the garage with the dogs. No big issue, it's air conditioned, we had an inflatable bed, and had room for all the dogs (better than being cooped up in a small room). This was the last OK Christmas over there for us.
A year later (4 years ago) my mother in law stated that my father in law didn't want us in the garage since it smelled when we left (no confirmation on if it really did or not) so we got a hotel room. It wasn't too fun with packing everyone up in the morning, leaving the dogs in their crates in the car all day (luckily it was cool out so we left all the doors open) and then unpacking them in the evening.
The next year was the last time I went to their home for Christmas.
They told us that we didn't need to get a hotel room and they'd have room for us. It turns out they had us sleep out in their lanai. Yes, our in their lanai with the swamp behind their house. 4 dogs and 2 humans attempting to sleep (note: attempting to - not succeeding). It was a horrible holiday, either of us slept all night and her parents complained at how much trouble our dogs are (mind you THREE of them are service dogs for my wife) and their's is so good (yeah, she's so good that she's always going to the bathroom in the house, getting into things, etc..).
That was the last time I've been to their house. My wife went over there the past few Christmases with one dog (the service dog she uses most) but even that was protested by her parents.
To add insult to injury;
September, 2008
Hurricane Ike was on track to hit Fort Lauderdale (where we live) as a strong category 4 / category 5 hurricane (in other words - get the hell out of it's way). We were 72 hours away from landfall and Friday evening we were making plans to evacuate. You'd think facing a 900 mile wide F3 tornado would make families think to help each other out?
Nope, they refused to let us evacuate there because they didn't want to take their cars out of the garage. Yes, their cars are more valuable than their own daughter. Luckily a friend of ours in Orlando said we could bring the animals up to them (pity - we might need to spend a few days in Orlando going to Sea World!). Luckily, 12 hours away from us evacuating Ike turned to the south and didn't hit us. Even my parents admitted that they wouldn't like all the animals at their house BUT something like Ike threatening us they would have helped us (too bad they're 2000 miles away).
Now, the current event. This is what put me over the edge.
My mother in law and her sister (middle sister) were going to Key West for a few days. They invited my wife and she accepted. To get to Key West from Fort Meyers (near where they live) they need to take 75 south, across Alligator Alley, and then at the "junction" (where the Sawgrass meets 75 and 595) they continue south on 75.
We live 20 minutes away from where that junction is. They first offered to come here to pick up my wife but then decided "they didn't want to go out of their way". Their solution? Either my wife drive 3 hours to their house the night before and go with them or drive herself down to Key West (where she wouldn't have a parking space) and meet them there.
Mind you - my wife dislocated her hip a little over a month ago and should NOT be doing any long driving alone.
My wife is now devastated thinking she isn't worth a 20 minute drive for them to pick her up.
The sad part is that my wife continually allows them to pull this with her (I only gave a short list). Since she doesn't get to see her sister often (she lives out of state) she now wants to go over to her parents' house just for the day (3 hour drive each way). I think it is a bad idea for her to go since she may end up fighting with her mother most of the time. I've agreed to go with her (I can't drive her van since it is "modified" to fit all of the dog crates).
Current events has made me change.
First, they are nice people just my mother in law is a little "not all there" if you get what I mean. Her sister is also bipolar and has a very additive personality (for many years she "self medicated" with some very hard drugs - even though she's on meds now she still has a lot of emotional issues).
Let's go back 5 years.
We went over for Christmas and since we have the dogs we slept in the garage with the dogs. No big issue, it's air conditioned, we had an inflatable bed, and had room for all the dogs (better than being cooped up in a small room). This was the last OK Christmas over there for us.
A year later (4 years ago) my mother in law stated that my father in law didn't want us in the garage since it smelled when we left (no confirmation on if it really did or not) so we got a hotel room. It wasn't too fun with packing everyone up in the morning, leaving the dogs in their crates in the car all day (luckily it was cool out so we left all the doors open) and then unpacking them in the evening.
The next year was the last time I went to their home for Christmas.
They told us that we didn't need to get a hotel room and they'd have room for us. It turns out they had us sleep out in their lanai. Yes, our in their lanai with the swamp behind their house. 4 dogs and 2 humans attempting to sleep (note: attempting to - not succeeding). It was a horrible holiday, either of us slept all night and her parents complained at how much trouble our dogs are (mind you THREE of them are service dogs for my wife) and their's is so good (yeah, she's so good that she's always going to the bathroom in the house, getting into things, etc..).
That was the last time I've been to their house. My wife went over there the past few Christmases with one dog (the service dog she uses most) but even that was protested by her parents.
To add insult to injury;
September, 2008
Hurricane Ike was on track to hit Fort Lauderdale (where we live) as a strong category 4 / category 5 hurricane (in other words - get the hell out of it's way). We were 72 hours away from landfall and Friday evening we were making plans to evacuate. You'd think facing a 900 mile wide F3 tornado would make families think to help each other out?
Nope, they refused to let us evacuate there because they didn't want to take their cars out of the garage. Yes, their cars are more valuable than their own daughter. Luckily a friend of ours in Orlando said we could bring the animals up to them (pity - we might need to spend a few days in Orlando going to Sea World!). Luckily, 12 hours away from us evacuating Ike turned to the south and didn't hit us. Even my parents admitted that they wouldn't like all the animals at their house BUT something like Ike threatening us they would have helped us (too bad they're 2000 miles away).
Now, the current event. This is what put me over the edge.
My mother in law and her sister (middle sister) were going to Key West for a few days. They invited my wife and she accepted. To get to Key West from Fort Meyers (near where they live) they need to take 75 south, across Alligator Alley, and then at the "junction" (where the Sawgrass meets 75 and 595) they continue south on 75.
We live 20 minutes away from where that junction is. They first offered to come here to pick up my wife but then decided "they didn't want to go out of their way". Their solution? Either my wife drive 3 hours to their house the night before and go with them or drive herself down to Key West (where she wouldn't have a parking space) and meet them there.
Mind you - my wife dislocated her hip a little over a month ago and should NOT be doing any long driving alone.
My wife is now devastated thinking she isn't worth a 20 minute drive for them to pick her up.
The sad part is that my wife continually allows them to pull this with her (I only gave a short list). Since she doesn't get to see her sister often (she lives out of state) she now wants to go over to her parents' house just for the day (3 hour drive each way). I think it is a bad idea for her to go since she may end up fighting with her mother most of the time. I've agreed to go with her (I can't drive her van since it is "modified" to fit all of the dog crates).
In fact, that can usually lead to some interesting quotes, like the one my uncle (who doesn't drink) muttered at my cousin's wedding in '07. That is, right after his second beer, he said "you know, these things are really addictive" causing the entire table to erupt with laughter 
and some cookies for you and your wife.
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