The Harder They Fall...

Since my last post, the one about us finally manifesting our RV dream into a reality, everything has been peaches and cream~ 👌 However there has been one predicted hiccup along the way -- 3 guesses as to who or what it is!

Drum roll.... The mother-in-law! 😃

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Naturally, as things are becoming more eminent, we felt that family was obligated to know what was going on. Seeing as how we are currently living with mother-in-law, we obviously extended that courtesy to her as well. She originally seemed perfectly fine with the idea; there were no objections, she didn't try to fight us on the matter or poke holes in our plans.

Well, either that was a facade or reality is finally starting to set in, because her true colours are showing once again.

I did my part -- I put my pride aside, tried to communicate with her, took her criticism to heart and tried to improve things. But one person does not get to continue being a miserable bitch while the other actively works to fix things. It's counterproductive, or in a simpler word, restarted 🥴 I no longer offer to help her in any way; the last time I tried saying good morning to her, I received a look of "🤨" back. So again, did my part, for the umpteenth and final time -- no more.

Because while I was busy doing my part, here's what grandma has been doing!

After two near-death experiences and quitting smoking for well over a month, she has not only resumed smoking again and steals our cigarettes, but she is also lying to healthcare professionals about it. ("I dunno why I have this cough, Doc! 😟")

Trying to get her to spend any time with her granddaughters has now become an impossibility. The last time we asked her if she could watch them for an hour so that we could grocery shop, she angrily replied, "Oh-ah-wahwahwa -- TJ!! 😡 (husband's nickname)," with no further explanation. We ended up taking our two babies in the freezing cold with us.

For the very first time, she screamed at our oldest daughter while she was loudly trying to get her daddy's attention.

She hardly acknowledges her granddaughters anymore, speaks to them in the most robotic tone ("Uh-huh 😑 Yep 😑 Oh yeah, I see ya, hiii 😑")

She now spends every moment of her life sleeping, pretending to sleep, and keeping her bedroom door closed while she's awake.

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And for the umpteenth time, I don't care, doesn't affect me...

That is, until it does affect me.

I know that all of this is intentional, whether she realizes it or not. I know that she is diminishing her health -- sabotaging her own life -- in the hopes that she'll ruin ours. You just know how this is gonna go. It will be a few days before we're getting ready to leave, she'll suddenly "take a turn for the worse," "Oh no, I don't feel good ☹️", she'll wind up in the hospital again, and we'll have to hear her fake sympathy of, "Oh, no no, don't worry about me, you guys go out and live your dream :') " in an attempt to make herself appear as though she's a martyr.

And to that I will say, " 'Kay, see ya!~ ✌️"

For over two years I have been biting my tongue, holding my breath, grinning and bearing it, even though I know that she will still choose to believe that she did everything, that she was the bigger person.

And that's fine! I know the truth -- that I am a better, stronger person because of all of this.

Rather than try to repair relationships, or create positive lasting memories, or just enjoying the limited time that we have together, mother-in-law would rather cut herself and wallow in the pain. "But poor me! I'm going to have to do everything myself again! I'm going to be so lonely! What am I going to do?! 😢"

I don't know what to say. Again, it takes two people to make a relationship work; I cannot continue to try to do both of our parts. She is a grown adult, who can communicate and try to grow; she simply chooses not to....

(Image created using an AI art generator on Night Cafe)