Heading to the in-laws for Thanksgiving

I am already dreading the trip to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. It is only a 3 hour drive and the kiddos do great in the car. HOWEVER, once we get there, it is so hard for the kids. My in-laws have nothing in their house for the kids and it is HORRIBLY kid-UNfriendly. There are breakables everywhere and lots of stuff for them to get into. We spend most of our time pulling our kids out of things or trying to keep them from climbing the stairs. Plus, the grandparents really do not plan anything to do for the kids. The TV is always on to CNN or Fox News or something and they just sit around the house all day. My kids are going to go nuts this year...and I might go right along with them.

Does anyone have a similar situation? We do take some of their toys down with us, but the novelty of breakable figurines or dolls displayed under glass is too much. I do not feel comfortable saying anything to my mother-in-law...I just don't get why she cannot see how stressful it is for us??

I am trying to decide if I should plan an outing for us...I just do not know the area very well and I worry that the grandparents will just want to stay home. Plus we will be with them on Black Friday and the roads will probably be crowded with shoppers.

Anyways, like I said, this is mostly a vent, but I would love to hear from anyone if they have a similar situation and have found something that works.

 

Do you have $50.00 to spare? Order some toys that they don't have online and have them shipped to your IL's house in time for T-giving. Let your IL's know that you wanted to get them some special toys that they could keep at their house for your kids to play with when they are there.

Neither of our parents really kid-proof their houses, but they also don't have doll collections or figurines everywhere. They also have toys they keep at their homes for our kids to play with - so we are always in pretty good shape.

 

That was my boys' great-grandma's house. Antique glass everywhere, cleaning chemicals at knee level, tall cabinets of drawers stuffed full of curious items, not being allowed to touch even the freaking stuffed animals on display, and zero "toys". We brought toys with us but they were much more interested in whatever was forbidden. And, she couldn't hear well so the TV was always on crazy loud. She also had the phone ring set to shrill fire alarm mode and it would go off at least once an hour from 10AM-10PM so the kids got ridiculously sleep-deprived.

My sanity saver was that there was a playground about 1/2 mile from her home. I'd load them in the stroller and take them there for a couple of hours as needed. We were gone a lot while my husband sat and visited.

If I were you, I'd do whatever you need to do to get out of the house for a while every day.

 

I'm right there with you! My husband's family is super nice, but they have no idea how stressful staying at their house is for us. DH's mother is an artist, and she has "priceless" (ie - can't be replaced) paintings all over the place - even stacked up against the wall in the bedroom we all stay in. I'm amazed that neither of my daughters has run through a canvas yet. Then there's her studio which houses all sorts of paints and chemicals, with no door between the studio and the rest of the house. That room is like crack to my kids so I spend half my time guarding the door to keep them out. Finally, DH's family has a mean parrot that attacks people and they don't understand why I ask to have the parrot in his cage when we're there. Oh - and yeah, CNN is on all the freaking time. And DH's parents (well, they're actually his grandparents - long story) are in their 90s, so the volume is SO LOUD. We don't let the girls watch any TV, much less graphic news programs, so it's a constant struggle to keep the TV off for long. DH's wonderful dad forgets after about 20 minutes why the TV is off, and turns it back on - and whenever he does, it's coverage of a horrific fire or a gruesome murder. Ugh.

To keep my sanity, I've done a few things. After the first semi-disastrous trip, I brought new toys with us to keep the girls occupied. That sort of worked. The third trip, I found a local park and we spent most of our time there. And whenever I can get away with it, we stay in a nearby hotel so there's somewhere to retreat to if we need it.

Good luck to you - honestly, I WOULD say something to your MIL about the knick-nacks. Ask her if she could put away the most breakable stuff. Tell her you're concerned your kids might hurt her precious stuff. Then, I'd also order some new toys and books to keep them occupied - and plan some outings. Is there a childrens museum nearby? A zoo? Aquarium?

 

DH's grandmother's house used to be that way. Oddly enough, my girls never cared about the breakable stuff. There were some knick-knacks here and there and they were obsessed with her snowglobe collection - it all ended up coming to OUR house when she moved! LOL They broke the majority of them once they got to us though so I didn't feel tooo guilty....

My kids have always been entertained enough by all the relatives they never see to worry about breakables, etc.. This also is always OUR sleep deprivation downfall, becuase they NEVER want to take a nap due to the fear of missing one minute of bonding time with any given relative! LOL They have never ever been interested in any toy we bring with, new or not. They're always just interested in running around with their cousins or climbing on their Aunts/Uncles/Grandparents.

Even at the Grandmothers (their great-grandmother) house, they have their great-Uncle that entertains the sh** out of them just by looking at them.... My kids are weird! LOL


Sorry, no words of advice here but good luck - I feel ya on dreading the Thanksgiving visit.

 

You gals are awesome...thanks for the words of support and advice

 

We have the same sort of issues so we take the kids to my sister-in-laws house and the in-laws come there. My SIL has some toys there for the boys to play with, plus she got a set of bunk beds from craigslist so they have a place for them to sleep. She also has a park right behind her house. We do occasionally go to my in-laws house, but they are pretty good about keeping up with the kids, plus mine are older and don't get into much they aren't supposed to anymore. Honestly, if I were in your situation I just wouldn't go. Either invite them to your house or just stay home. It's not worth the hassle!

 

I can absolutely relate to you when we travel! What I have found that works is research all of the kids activities (museums, parks, etc...) in the area and make a list. Definitely bring some new toys with you and here's an interesting idea-a toy renting company:
http://mybusybucket.com/

It looks really neat! It's worth it I think if you don't want to buy new toys just for the sake of buying them. I'm "toying" with the idea of doing this over Thanksgiving during our travels-hehe!

 

I'm stressed just reading these posts!! I just want to give you all some hugs!! :hug: