"Don't lie to your wife. And absolutely don't ever suggest your children lie to her. Come clean but without being mean. Her parents don't have to suck (or steam too many vegetables) for you to start a family holiday tradition of your own: Christmas at home, just the four of you-why not? It may be too late for this year, I grant you (I do wish you hadn't waited until December to realize you didn't want to spend Christmas away from your own home-or,"
"The "try" looks like this: "It's really important to me that we have our own Christmas traditions as a family, just the four of us. If anyone in either of our extended families wants to see us, they're welcome to drop by-but I want us to be at home for Christmas from now on." This is not a preposterous idea. Your wife is an adult with a family of her own (and the other three members of that family want to stay home)."
Be honest with your spouse and avoid encouraging deception or feigned illness. Propose creating a family Christmas tradition of staying home with just the immediate family. Offer that extended family members are welcome to visit, but make clear the preference to be at home for the holiday. Acknowledge that this choice may upset the in-laws and will be difficult for the spouse, but emphasize the adults' responsibility to form traditions that suit their household. Recognize timing may make this year's plans hard to change, but suggest beginning the new tradition as soon as possible.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]