Here Come Santa Clause

I am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I don't know if its because I haven't put a tree up yet or the fact that we probably will not really doing anything fun for Christmas because of my somewhat spoiled Sister-in-Law. I do have all of my moms and brothers shopping done. I am just waiting on one gift to get in that I ordered for my mom and then I will ship them off to Florida. I need to start my husbands shopping soon so I can get his stuff wrapped. I am going to the local high schools craft fair tomorrow. I am hoping to find stuff for his grandparents so I can mark them off the list. I have decided that next year i am going to be doing to do all my Christmas shopping for his family early so that when December comes I only have to worry about my family and him.


So why haven't you put up your tree you ask. Last year my husband and I decided we wanted a bigger tree. I had been using my moms old 3ft tree and just really wanted something prettier. I of course made the mistake of mentioning this in front of his parents who save EVERYTHING. They mentioned that they had there old Christmas tree from years and years ago that they never put up anymore because they always go to Michigan for Christmas. I thought, well OK. We can take their tree which is like 6ft and use that till we get a bigger place then buy a new tree. So like three weeks ago I tell husband that we need to go up and get the Christmas stuff because I always put my tree up the day after Thanksgiving. We soon after find out that his parent have decided that we are not going to Michigan for Thanksgiving like we do EVERY year but that they are going to go to Virgina to babysit my niece so my Sister -in- Law can go off to Vegas with her boyfriend. I will elaborate on that later. They are going to be there for two weeks, not coming home until this coming Sunday. Well, by that time who knows when we will get up to his parents house (they live an hour away) to get the stuff. By that time there is no point in putting up a tree because I will just have to turn right around and take it all back down again. (Jan 2) I told my husband that we should have just gone up to the house, he still has a key, and just get the stuff ourselves. But did we? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So needless to say, I probably wont put a tree up this year.

Now, to why my sister-in- law is spoiled and selfish. Let me start by telling you a little bit about SIL (that's what we will call her). She is husbands younger sister. She was a very different child from the way my husband was. He was the dutiful son, always minded his parents, never did anything that would bring them shame. He is still this way which drives me crazy. His sister is the complete opposite. She was the "wild one", which really she wasn't, she was just a normal girl who liked to do normal things with her friends. While I wish my husband was just a little more like his sister, I wish she was a little less self absorbed. In the 6 years I have known her I have never seen her put anyone above herself or what she wants to do. In fact, in the 6 years I have known her I think me and husband have seen her MAYBE a dozen times. She never feels it is necessary to spend anytime with her family much less holidays. When Christmas or Easter or whatever rolls around, instead of using her vacation time to spend it with her family, her grandparents, etc, she flits off with her latest fling on a cruise or where ever. Well this time last year we found out she was pregnant. At the time we all assumed it was with her now boyfriend but turns out it was the result of a one night stand. Anyway, she had moved to Virgina where he lived so they could be together. Not once did she come home to let anyone see her while she was pregnant, if her parents wanted to see her they had to drive 9hrs to see her, her dad ended up retiring from his job so they could be free to go back and forth on a whim. We talked about throwing her a bridal shower but she wouldn't come home for one. After she finally had the baby, did she call and tell anyone? No, she left it up to her parents. When the baby was old enough to travel, did she bring the baby around to see everyone? No, she had her parents drive all the way to VA to pick up the baby, drive all the way back to OH and then all over. They took her to MI to see her great grandparents and to IN to see her other great grandma, and then they had to drive all the way back to VA to drop her off. Now the holidays are here. You would think that she would want her daughter to spend her very first thanksgiving and Christmas with her family but again no. What did she do? She had her parents drive all the way to VA to babysit so she and her boyfriend could go to Vegas, not spend her daughters first thanksgiving in this world with her. And at Christmas time, she is going to have both Christmas eve and Christmas day off but is she going to come home so her daughter can spend her first Christmas with the family, since its a good bet a couple of the great grandparents wont be here come next Christmas, No, she is going to have her BF come to her house instead.

I guess what erks me the most is that i was raised that family was the most important thing. I would never dream of running off on a vacation during a major holiday, especially if children were involved. I just know that when the time comes for husband and I to have kids, they will not be raised the way SIL was.