The SIL I NEVER Wanted

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The new diet plan went fantastic today! Baked white fish with garlic, curry and olive oil. Broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, onions and orange bell peppers stir fried in ginger and soy sauce. Okay, my breath was probably a lethal force afterward, but it was delicious!

Oh, and I want to thank Alex P. for the 101cookbooks website. Alex, do you have an email or blogsite...I can't seem to contact you.

Now for the newest jaw-clencher on my horizon: I may have to go visit my sil and fil this weekend.

Ugh. Sil lives only 15 minutes or so from us. I loathe visiting and try to limit it to holidays. Can you say pretentious, know-it-all, preachy, one-upper-about-everything, critical-of-others type of person? She definitely does NOT know about my IF, my m/c's, our treatments or this FET.

Sil is married, has 2 kids from sperm donor. Her boyfriend (now husband) had been "snipped" so she marched herself to the sperm bank and got herself knocked up....regardless of bf's input. And let me tell you, she knows everything about being a perfect parent. Oh yes. And she's happy to share her vast wealth of knowledge.

No TV for her kids. No electronic games of any type whatsoever (one year we gave the then 4 year old daughter a teddy bear that could record your voice and play it back when you squeezed its paw. Sil debated about whether to let the child have it). Neither of them (ages 9 and 5) have any idea who Hannah Montana is. Sil cooks and jars her own jam. They keep chickens from which they get eggs. Did I know that I cannot get a fresh egg from the grocery store? Oh no....one cannot buy a fresh egg from any store. She instructs me how to garden. Her kids have few friends and are spoken to like little adults. Her son is learning to knit.

I thought, these kids are going to grow up to be freaks who know nothing about what their peers talk about. What I really detest, though, is the lack of discipline. Zero. Those kids dictate everything.

You know, I don't mean to judge. Honestly. This is evident by the fact that I have never said anything to her about her dirty house, piles of dishes or unkempt-looking kids. But she preaches...and I can barely stand to be in the same room with her.

The final straw came after I had had my second m/c. I was a mess. She had no idea. We went over for breakfast (what delicious, fresh scrambled eggs we had). From out of nowhere, she looks directly at me (why ME?) across the table and says, "T, did you know that there is a newly published article in the Journal of Something Something Medicine which says that children under the age of 2 years should not watch any TV whatsoever?"

She knows I'm a crap TV-aholic. So sue me. I was working a hardcore stressful job as a lawyer, 10 hours a day. When I got home, crap TV unwound my brain. I admit I watch reality shows, sitcoms and other various forms of crap TV.

So her comment...plus the fact that I had just m/c'd and didn't have a 2 year old, or any baby for that matter, to sit in front of a TV, put me over the edge. I cried all the way home. Fortunately, my husband is very supportive about this issue (heck, it's his sister...he knows!).

Anyway, after enough time had passed and I gathered my wit, I waited for the right moment. I knew it would come and it did. I'm not one to brag about my credentials, and I think I'm generally kind to others, but oh man, she deserved this!

The topic of TV and children came up again. She went on about how bad TV is and how she won't let her kids go over to the neighbor's house anymore because (gasp!) they let their kids watch TV. Then I said it.

I said, "Hm, P, you know, I grew up on TV. Almost from birth. I watched all the cartoons, soap operas, game shows, sitcoms. Hell, even now I watch hours and hours of reality TV and whatever happens to come on every night! It's incredible, isn't it, that despite so much zombie TV, I've been able to acquire two bachelor's degrees and a law degree, and I graduated with honors for all of them! Go figure."

That shut her up. Oh, the look on her face was priceless.

Unfortunately, it only caught her off guard for a moment. People like that are hard to stop...sort of like a speeding train.

So yesterday my husband said, "My dad is going to be in town this weekend. Want to go to P's house?" I haven't been there since Thanksgiving. I may have to suck it up and go. The only good thing is that I'm feeling happy and positive about this FET cycle. That and the fact that since I was laid off from that stressful law position several months ago, I watch even more crap TV than ever.

That ought to be great fodder for conversation. ;)
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