Has anybody else's family told them they are too overwhelming?

There's a little background. My dad has speech aphasia, which is a degenerative brain disease affecting his speech. I have a step mother and two step brothers, both with families with 2 children each. My step mother called my sister the other day and was talking about Easter. She doesn't think both my family (I have 5 children-6,4,3,and the boys are 7 months) and her son's can both stay at her house. We usually end up all in one bedroom anyway, and they have 3 extras. And my sister is telling me this saying my step brother is the one who doesn't want us all to stay there, it's just too overwhelming. Then she says it's too much for my step mom, then too much for my dad. Now, I realize we are a handful (but I swear my kids are better behaved than any of my step neices or nephews!), and I can understand. So, at this point, I just wanted my sister to be sad with me and let me vent about it not being fair, and she starts in on how hard it is for people to deal with a family with 5 children (and again, I'm not trying to brag, but my kids are not naughty). So, I guess we're not going to Easter this year (our first one missed in 6 years), and I'm not sure when I'll be done being angry that my FAMILY all can't handle all my children.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

OH MY...how terrible of him to say! I have 5 also, and while it may be overwhelming at times for us, as parents, I don't think that it is anyone else's place to make that kind of comment! HOW RUDE!! I say go, and show them how well-behaved those kids of yours are...ALL FIVE OF THEM!

 

That stinks! Is there somewhere else you can stay so you can at least visit with your family (dad) part of the time? I would be angry if a step parent and sister said my family is overwhelming too!

 

That's pretty much how my parents feel about me and my kids. What makes me sad is that I get a lot of compliments for my well behaved kids. Oh well, I live about 15 minutes from my parents and we hardly ever see each other, it's sad really.

 

I'm sorry they feel that way... From the sounds of it, you have great kids, so I have to say it's their loss, not yours..

 

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Most of the time, I'm the one turning down invites because I think we are too overwhelming...LOL. Anyway, it's a shame. Could you invtie them to your house? If not, it's a perfect time to start your own traditions Good luck, I deal with the stepfamily issues too, so I know what you're going through.

Crystal

 

This might be really hard to do, but for you and for your dad's sake, you may have to decide not to let this one get you down. It was ugly of her to say and especially to your sister and not to call and talk to you. Maybe she is having a tough time dealing with what is happening in her own life? But you don't want to lose touch with your dad. As I see it, you have several options. You could get a hotel or something close to your family and offer to stay there and go for part of the day (not sure how far away you live from them.) You could offer to have everyone over to your house for the day, or as one PP said, it would be sad for you at first and change is hard, but its a great time to start new traditions for you and your family. People here could give you some great ideas if you don't already have things you'd like to continue doing. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. I have five kids too, and our activities are changing a lot when it comes to holidays. Hugs to you. I know this hurts.