In-laws for Christmas

So its settled. Chris' parents are coming over Friday night for our Christmas get-together. I'm really dreading it. Its so hard for me to be nice to them. I know I should. I know God loves them just as much as He loves me, and that no one is perfect, and that as a Christian I'm suppossed to love everybody, but its so HARD.



I think the main "wedge" between us is that our families have nothing in common anymore. Chris and I don't drink or do drugs, we don't curse, we try to live right. We're very involved in church and we're raising our kids to do the same. I'm not trying to sound self-righteous, because we have many, MANY flaws. We're just different from them. They know how we feel about cussing and drinking, etc, and they continue to do those things when we're together. I think our differences wouldn't be so bad if they didn't have a history of disappointing my children. Several times this year, Chris' mom has told Shaun that she's coming over to bring him his Christmas presents (from last year) and she didn't show up or even call to say she wasn't coming. And her not showing up at church this past Sunday after she promised Shaun she would has left a bad taste in my mouth.



Chris and I were thinking yesterday, and we don't think his mom has even seen either one of them since last Christmas. A year ago! Not only that, but they never call. They know that both of their grandkids have had medical issues this year, and it really frustrates me that they don't care enough to call. I know they get upset because we don't come to their house. But we can't. Jordan's doctors have given us strict instruction to not have him around any secondary smoke because of his asthma. But of course they don't care. Seriously. When Shaun was being discharged from the NICU the doctors told all of us to keep him away from secondary smoke. The very next day they called and wanted us to bring him to their house. I don't understand how someone can just NOT CARE about their grandchildren that way. Ugh- I'm getting all upset again. I hope they show up tomorrow. I've been praying for God to heal our relationship. That's one of the things I'm going to be fasting for next month. If anyone can do it, God can.

I've had a horrible day today. Shaun had a meltdown and punched one of the panes out in a dining room window. Needless to say, we didn't make it to Karate today. I'm at a loss. I have no idea how to handle him when he acts that way. He is not in control of himself. I can tell the difference between him being "manic" and just acting out like any other 7 year old. Its so hard to know how to punish him. I don't think he should be punished for episodes like that, because he really does not have control over his actions. On the other hand, we can't let him act that way with no consequences. I called and left a message for our psychologist, but he's on vacation until January. I think the problem is that he's had a growth spurt and his meds just aren't enough right now. I hate to go up on his meds, but I don't see any other choice. Obviously, Chris and I will be praying for this when we're fasting. As I've said before, if anyone can fix this, God can!