Beth's thank you letter to my mother in law. Pass the mallet so I can drive a few more spikes into my heart.
Dear Granny,
Thank you so much for a really awesome Christmas - I spent the evening drawing with my new pencils.
Our house feels so much smaller and untidy than yours.
I got so used to the formal lunches and your wonderful cooking - by comparison when we got back today we had a measly lunch of a few sausage rolls and no home-made pudding, just fruit.
I can't wait to come and stay with you again.
Lots of love
Beth
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16 comments:
Sorry but i had to laugh!!! :)
I hope you chucked it in the bin and re-wrote something more appropriate - like
"Thank you very much for having me to stay. The food was lovely. I loved the present you gave me."
Something tells me though that if you offered her the chance to move there full time, she might not sound quite so enthusiastic...
Excellent! One of my guests (who shall remain anonymous) said "Oh I so like coming to your house, it never matters if I make a mess!"
Reminds me of when I was getting married, the woman making my dress said lots of brides-to-be spent their fittings complaining to her about their new in-laws. The dressmaker reckoned most of us only woke up to the fact other families are exactly like our own when we get married and in-laws stop making a big effort. Up until then, we have this delusion that our families are the only ones with less than pristine kitchens, lack of cordon bleu cooking 24/7 etc. Sorry, rambling comment.
Casdok: I didn't, but perhaps I'll see the bright side in a few days.
Beta Mum: I thought of inking out the comments I didn't agree with like a wartime censor, but I think your approach is probably better.
Potty M: How very astute.
Nunhead: Now that is barbed. Do you still see much of her?
M@L: You are so right. But her cooking is wonderful and their house is horribly tidy - even the places like the back of the loo cistern. How do I know? I've checked. And I know exactly how sad that is.
Sausage rolls and fruit? Blimey, that's way beyond the culinary experience of my kids. I call that cordon bleu.
You need to teach Beth that well-loved proverb: tidiness is in the eye of the beholder. It's a purely subjective thing. Some people like their belongings out of sight in cupboards and in square piles. Other people like their belongings arranged creatively on the various available flat surfaces, most notably the floor. It's just a matter of personal taste.
And anyway, a thank you letter already?? Your children are WAY ahead of the game, and obviously a credit to your years of training.
Sounds like she needs to get out more. My health visitor is almost as vigilant in checking for cleaning obsessions as she is in asking about drugs and alcohol.
Lovely to be in a pristine household so long as one is not expected to maintain its condition.
Not so sure Beth would be so enthusiastic if it were her turn to clean behind the loos and move the furniture to access the skirtings....!
I think this thank you note shows great promise, however. Haven't we all sent thanks where it was so jolly difficult to decide what we were supposed to be grateful for? (not that this applies here) - excellent creativity; will stand her in good stead.
OHMYGOD!
My mother always treated her young as though we were a group of ungrateful parasites - a point of view which I considered to be harsh and unfair, until the antics under the Christmas tree this year... I am beginning to re-consider... Perhaps we should write a parenting manual together?
Happy New year lovely friend.
Hm, she's family. What can you do with family?
iota: So thriled that you're blogging again that can scarcely comment intelligently. Rush over to her site, everyone, and marvel.
M@L: Have you posted about your health visitor - I suppose it's a little difficult but would love to hear more (unless you have and I've missed it).
Debio: You are so, so right.
Dulwich Mum: Why not - let's do it. Have always thought there's room for an anti-parenting book.
Nunhead: Statistically, a lot of murders are family based, so I guess that's the answer - or one of them.
Obviously you dropped this letter into the storm drain as you walked to the post box!
OH This one would have run and rerun with my mother in law,who thought no one could possibly bring up a child like her ,her one and only precious son!she would have revelled in it!She didn't know what I did with my time,I only had 4 children of my own and 2 foster children to look after!Need I say more!
DJ: I confess that it was such a hassle getting Beth to write it the first place that I sent it. Sorry....
Kathyann: Nice to see you here. Glad it struck a chord! Six children! I don't know how you even contemplated doing it.
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