Oh yes, I have issues with my in-laws.  Mostly my MIL because my FIL pretty much keeps to himself.

When George and I first started dating his mother and I talked quite a bit.  She was always very nice to me.  After we got married things continued that way.  We talked on the phone pretty often and things seemed to be okay.  She would occasionally get upset with me if she called to talk and I was busy at the time and couldn’t spend hours on the phone, but for the most part things between us were good.

I don’t really know when things changed.  The event that sticks out most in my mind is when we were all planning to attend a family reunion.  There was some sort of arguement between George and my MIL and we were un-invited to the reunion.  Things went downhill quickly.  We didn’t talk to for several months.

We later moved for George’s job and I guess that made the strain even worse.  I had hoped that once Peanut was born we would be able to be close since I assumed my MIL would want to be a big part of Peanut’s life.  Which turned out to not be quite the case. 

We live a few hours away but we visit often.  We always stay at my parents house when we visit- they have plenty of room for us.  George and I get our own room and Peanut gets her own room.  It’s easy and it works out well for us.  We always make arrangements to visit my MIL and FIL while we are in town though.  But, more than half of the time my in-laws cancel our plans at the last minute.  Peanut doesn’t really know them very well because they seem to want to close us out of their lives.

I guess because I came from a very close family it’s hard for me to understand.  We were always very close to all of our extended family.  I always considered my cousins to be some of my closest friends.  I want this very much for Peanut- to have a large family network.  I am tired of trying to force a relationship on my in-laws though.  If they don’t want to be a big part of her life, then that is their choice.