Family vacation intrusion... Please help!

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. My grandmother was the same way. It took my Mom many years to cut her out of her life. My sister and I only wish that she did it sooner. We all wish that she was a different kind of person but she's not and will never be. We mourn the loss of a family that we never really had. It is hard but you need your sanity. Life is too short to always be stressed. Good luck.:hug:
 
I'm so sorry this has turned so upside down on you. :grouphug: Going forward I would not reach out anymore to explain how you feel about this Disney trip, you have already done that. It is now up to your Mother to decide if she and your Dad will join you or not. If you sister still decides to go then she is going with your parents, not as a part of your group. I do think that you would have a wonderful time with your DH, DDs and IL's without the rest of them.
As for your mom babysitting, I would go on with it as normal, one should have nothing to do with the other.
The Canada trip...no sorry, nothing like this. No one invite you and they didn't tell you about because they didn't want you inviting yourself. (My parents did the same thing to me when I was in college...they planned a WDW trip and never told me they were going until a week before. I guess they were worried I'd make them take me (like a 20 yo would want to go with her 50 something parents, no thanks)
Unfortunately we only get to pick our friends not our family...but as adults we get to choose who we spend our quality time with.
 
Honestly I am sitting here scratching my head as to why you are so insistant on special time with people who really don't think the same way and treat you badly? I know they are the kids grandparents, but obviously they don't feel the same way about having special time only with your kids, so really I would drop it, I would go and have fun with YOUR family, and your In laws, and thats that.
Let them do their own thing, join you if they want , don't if they want.
YOur kids will have a special awesome time with or without your sis along,
Don't let this ruin their trip and your trip.
It doesn't have to. Do your kids have the chance to have one on one time with their grand- parents any other time? do you live far apart?

I was wondering that myself. Your parents obviously want to be with their other grandchildren and why would you deprive them of that? They are only going to resent you if the others are made to feel unwelcome. The whole time they were spending "quality" time with yor kids they would be thinking of how much the other grandkids would be enjoying it.

I. peronally, would want my mother (my father is gone) to spend time with those she loves. It makes her so happy to see all her grandchildren together. I am sure she loves your children as much as the 13 year old you seem to really resent. I actually feel bad for this boy, your sound like you don't like him very much because of the relationship your parents have with him. He is your nephew after all. It is a tough age. You may not realize this until you have a teen.

Sorry, this is the way I feel . Life is short. You should welcome this time with family. If it made my mother happy, I would go along with it. They would have the other grandparents who, I am sure, would make your kids feel special (one and three is a terrific age).

Family is everything. Your girls are not going to remember how much time was spent with each grandchild. That is the reality of it. The older chidlren will. They are all her grandchillren.
 
If it made my mother happy, I would go along with it.

Why is more important for her mother to be happy then for her (SharpMomOfTwo) own happiness. I never understand that.
 

Why is more important for her mother to be happy then for her (SharpMomOfTwo) own happiness. I never understand that.

Ok, but why would you want to be with someone who obviously wants her other daughter there? They are both her daughters after all.

I, personally, would want my mother to be happy. She is my mother and I love her. Her happiness is my happiness. Call me weird.

I have six kids and I hope they feel the same when they are grown.
 
First off I am sorry this is happening to you. I know it can not be easy.

Next, if this is your "first" family vacation do what will make it the best one it can be. If that is to let everyone come do it. If just you all and in-laws do it. The bottom line is they should understand or at least attempt to understand. This is your vacation you go have fun.


On second thought tell your Mom is she is insistant on having your sister and all go that Mom can pay and you would be okay. ;)
Good luck & take care of you!
 
You're right; you have me trumped! :rotfl: Seriously, I would wait and see what your sister has to say. You may get lucky and she may decide to go to the Carribean. I'm sure she doesn't realize what she is doing, especially since your Mom seemed to welcome her. If she decides that she'd like to join you talk to her and tell her your feelings. This is if you guys are close enough to discuss it without opening a can of worms. Good luck; I know this is stressful.
 
I'm sorry. I understand why you're hurt. I would feel the same way. At this point, I would just allow your parents and sister to plan their own trip (you weren't paying for them, were you?) and plan your trip with your ILs. Tell your family that if they go, you'll be glad to meet up with them at some point for a meal or whatever, but you are going to go ahead and make your plans. And then do it. Don't let your sister railroad your vacation and turn it into what *she* wants it to be. Take the vacation you want.

("Deny your sister the joy of seeing your childrens' faces at WDW?" That's one of the worse excuses ever!!!)
 
Nip, Nip, Nip away and quick! Want me to dial the phone for you? Seriously you need to call your sister now and explained that this vacation has been planned for your kids with both sets of grandparents.
Them going even with making their own arrangements/plans won't work because your parents will be pulled in 2 directions and thats not what you wanted. It's your family's vacation...save it now before it's too late.

My thoughts exactly.

I have something going on that's not quite the same, but kind of. We're planning our trip for Oct. My parents are going also (not staying at the same place, not flying togehter) and we plan to do a few things together. they're taking the kids to sea world one day, we're all going to cirque and maybe meet for the Spectromagic parade-that's it. dh's mom/step dad are going also as well as his sister and her 2 kids but they're driving and styaing at the campground. Again, we plan to get together for a few things, but we dont'want to plan everyday meeting up, doing stuff together. Well...dh's mom/step dad invited their regular camping buddies (we'll call them Lynn and Derek) to go also (along w/ their daughter, son in law, granddaughter). again, fine, since they want do do most parks with these people, etc.
Well, i say to my mil, "my mom wanted to know if you and lenny wanted to go to Cirque with us, she thought it would be fun". and their response, "yea, that sounds good, we'll see if derek and lynn want to go". What's that???
I don't even like those people let alone want to spend any of my vacation with them. annoying.
 
OP, I am sorry your trip isn't shaping up like you wanted. And I can understand your frustration.

OTOH, I am a little confused. You said you wanted your children to be the only kids there and not share the attention. But didn't you also say you invited your brother and his family? So your kids will already be sharing the attention of your parents for at least part of the trip?

If the three of you (you, your brother, and your sister)are the only kids in the family, it very well could seem to your mother that you are singling out your sister, and she doesn't want to play a part in "rejecting" your sister. I know that you do not see it that way, but your mom may.

I just wanted to offer another viewpoint. I truly hope you are able to work it all out and have awesome trip.
 
:grouphug: I feel for you. I wish there was a simple solution to offer. DH and I frequently discuss the "wanting our DD to have special quality one on one time with grandparents" as well. It may be selfish, but it is what it is and nothing will change that. Each set gets to spend TONS of time with other grandkdis, but very little with ours, comparitively speaking. My parents are 3 1/2 hours away and DH's parents are 4 1/2 hours away, so we feel like we are constantly trying to beg, finagle, plan, etc. time with them. MIL babysits my SIL's youngest as well as "fills in" for SIL/BIL whenever they want to do something or go somewhere, which means that we feel like we have to put in a request for time with them. We almost always go to them to visit, while they rarely make the trip to our house. My parents are a completely different story. (See below for a too long explanation.)

She was upset because I invited my brother and his family there for 2-3 days of the trip. I only did that because they live in Florida, so it would be convenient, and we don't get to see them very often - my sister lives a 1/2 mile away from me, she can see me and the kids whenever she wants. The other reason is because my brother is more relaxed than my sister - he would go with the flow. My sister would try to be in front of all the planning.

OK, I can kinda see where your sis could get upset with this part of it. (Not that I necessarily disagree with you though as my family's situation would be similar as in I'd much rather do something with my brother than my sister.)Anyway, after reading this, I thought how about this possible solution - could you invite your sis and family for those particular days when your brother will be there too? Is it at the end of the trip and they could continue on with theirs after you guys went back home? Maybe your sister would like to get together with your brother and his family as well since she probably doesn't get to see them much either?

long personal story: we have our first family vacation planned too and my parents were thinking about coming along for part of it. i actually thought it would be nice because i think we would have a good time with them and they would get to spend some quality time with my kids and also some time together alone (they never do). i was looking up some flight and room info and then called her about the prices and options and she says, "well, of course, we have to take your sister(21) and your niece(1)". i didnt say anything but i was so upset about it for days. they live with my parents (so it would actually have been an opportunity for my parents to get away from them) and my sister is very needy and demanding and i just know it would ruin the trip. not to mention that her daughter is younger than my kids and we would have to struggle with her nap schedule and my kids schedule. and because of my sister's personality my parents would have to take care of my niece and take her back to the room, etc instead of spending time with my kids. i was just really hurt because i thought the whole reason why they wanted to go was to spend time with my kids. i knew it seemed really selfish, but it just didnt make sense why they would have to come. (she's not my only sister, by the way... i have an adult brother and sister also. my mom didnt feel the need to bring them along, so it wasnt that she wanted the whole family to be together.)

WOW! Someone else who's situation is just like mine! I think of my sis as the black sheep of the family - every family has one, right??? My sis (33yo) and her 3 kids (6, 5, 2) live with my parents. It's hard for them to get away because my mom helps out so much with the kids, even though she still works full time. They should've retired last year (they are 66 now), but didn't or rather couldn't because of expenses. Oh, well. I would love a trip to Disney with my parents, but just my parents - not my sis and her kids. I look at it as an opportunity for them to spend time with DD without my mom having to watch/take care of my sister's kids, as well as an opportunity for the two of them to get away by themselves - which doesn't get to happen too often, unfortunately. When they do all come to my house, I try to take care of the her kids as much as I can while still trying to visit with mom and dad so that my mom and dad can play with DD. Where's my sis in all this, sometimes she comes and she helps with her kids too, but not a heck of a whole lot. Oh, it's just all so complicated, isn't it??? I try not to be bitter, but I feel so bad for my parents who should be enjoying retired life, not raising 3 more kids and still supporting one of their kids too. Of course, DH likes to remind me that it's by their choice that they all live there. Which is true, but the alternative isn't pretty...

SharpMomOfTwo, I apologize for getting off track from your situation. :hug: Hopefully after everyone's had time to think, things will settle back down. Maybe your sis will decide to do the islands instead. Maybe they'd rather do Universal instead with her kids being the age they are. Maybe even SeaWorld. Hey, there's an idea. The WHOLE family can do SeaWorld together one day. The rest of the time they are in Universal and you guys are in Disney. Your parents can do whatever... Good luck with it all. :hug:
 
Sorry, this is the way I feel . Life is short. You should welcome this time with family. If it made my mother happy, I would go along with it. They would have the other grandparents who, I am sure, would make your kids feel special (one and three is a terrific age).

Family is everything. Your girls are not going to remember how much time was spent with each grandchild. That is the reality of it. The older chidlren will. They are all her grandchillren.


I am guessing from this that you are blessed to have a family that does not include someone who is truly hateful and constantly marginalizing you. I am sure that the OP wishes (much as I do with my family) that she was equally blessed. Family ought to work that way, but for many of us it doesn't and when that happens we have some painful choices to make that are not always popular.
 
I am guessing from this that you are blessed to have a family that does not include someone who is truly hateful and constantly marginalizing you. I am sure that the OP wishes (much as I do with my family) that she was equally blessed. Family ought to work that way, but for many of us it doesn't and when that happens we have some painful choices to make that are not always popular.

yes, you know everything about me and my extended family. Uh, I don't think so.

It just sounds like whining. My kids don't get grandma's full attention, boohoo. I have three siblings. Nothing makes my mother happier than to see all 14 (yes, 14 including two step who she really thinks of like the others) kids together playing. I know that if she took a trip with one individual family she would be thinking of the other ones and how much fun they would be having.

Why would anyone want to spend time with someone who doesn't really want to be there without the other sibling. You cannot force relationships. It breeds resentment.

My family has many issues. But sometimes you have to put your own selfish feelings aside and do what is right. It is called maturity. I am not fully there but I am beginnign to see.

By the way, nobody can "marginalize" you without you letting them.

It is sad that she feels she cannot have a relationship because of this with her mother. It does sound like she is more concerned with her mother not being able to babysit, though, than the actual relationhship. Relationships work both ways. It is not always about what you can do for me, sometimes it is about what I can do for you.
 
Well I guess I am all alone in this but I think your mom is right. If you are inviting your brother your sister should be invited as well. As a parten of 3 kids if one of my kids wanted to have a vacation and leave out one of their siblings but have everyone else go I would be upset too. I don't think I would go as it would feel like I was contributing to the ostracizing of one of my children and I just wouldn't do that. Was your brother invited on the Canada trip? If not then I don't think you have a point there. Also if your mom is now supposed to watch your children it sounds like they will have plenty of one on one time with grandma and probably grandpa too. Special memories aren't just made at DW.
 
I don't think the OP is upset because Mom won't babysit. It's the fact that her sisters needs and wants always come 1st with Mom. I don't think Op is being selfish wanting her kids to have a little time alone with their grandparents without the sisters DD along. Her siser frequently takes trips with Mom, and her DD gets alone time....why is it unfair for Op to expect the same treatment?:confused3 It's not the OP fault that she has her stuff together and isn't living with Mom. The sister is, I feel, taking advantage of their Mom. As an adult, she should be living on her own, supporting herself and DS and not living at home with Mom. Because of this fact, Mom is getting way more time with the other grandchild, and all family time is worked around the sister's needs, not the OP's.

It goes back to a sense of equality and fairness and security in knowing that Mom loves them both the same. Bottom line, OP's Mom is showing preference for her sister and it hurts OP. And her kids are suffering for that, also. I don't see why OP shouldn't be upset. I would be too.
 
I do understand your point about how your sister will change the dynamics of the entire trip.

I do feel that your mom is in the middle and that is hard and I wont say that her happiness should trump yours. Just put yourself in her position with your own girls.
I am sure your mom only thought she was making it a big family vacation especially since your brother was also going

I think you need to deal straight with your sister and leave your mom out of it. Maybe your sister can only come for part of tha time , like when your brother will be there anyway

Good luck, I hope it gets resolved and that you and your family have a fantastic trip
 
I had a nice long post all ready to send, but then I decided to chop it down to the bare essentials...

If you're paying for everyone, then you have a right to be angry and offended that another party is being added at your expense.

If everyone's on their own dime, however, you can't expect to dictate who can or can't go to DW while you're there. And I don't think Mom will ignore Sis or Bro (and their kids) just because you want "EGT" (exclusive grandparent time).

I hope y'all can work this out, because I can see a lot of potential for everyone to enjoy the trip -- Disney is all about families coming together. Look at it this way -- It's now a "Grand Gathering." Good luck!
 
Who's right? Who's wrong? I don't know. Too many things I don't know. For example, are you gifting this trip to your parents and In-Laws? If they are your guests, then no I don't think they should have invited anyone else (relative or not) without asking you first. Are they paying their own way? If yes, then it is their vacation, too, and they are within their rights to invite whomever they want.

When you first mentioned the trip, did you say that you wanted it to be a special time for your children with their grandparents or did you just say it would be a family vacation? To your parents a "family" trip would include your sister and her child. Even if you didn't state it as such, they probably made that assumption since you invited your brother to join you.

Also, and forgive me for being blunt, you do sound a little childish. You said you invited your brother because he is more laid back and wouldn't try to take things over. Now, I understand on these boards things don't always come across as we mean them, but basically, you seemed to say that you didn't mind your brother coming on the trip because you could still have your way, but if your sister came along, you'd have to compromise your plans and your wants. If this is what you meant, then your sister and parents have every reason to take that personally -- even though you say it isn't personal. If that wasn't what you meant, my apologies to you. Like I said, sometimes things don't always come across as we mean them.

However, none of that really matters. What's done is done. What matters now is where do you go from here. If your folks invited their other child to join them on their vacation, then I don't think there is really anything you can do, but try to make the most of it. You won't all need to go everywhere together; and when your folks are with your sister and her child, be thankful for the one on one time your kiddos are getting with the other set of grandparents.

Kudos to you though for telling your mom and sis how you feel. I know confrontation isn't easy, and hopefully you will get the vacation you dreamed of. If not, just remember that nobody can ruin your vacation without your permission.
 
i read the op and didnt take the time to read what is after...i have to say i think its selfish...this is not just your vacation..i beleive you said your parents were going...and they would like to spend it with all thier grand children...if you want to take and pay for your parents then you have the right to ask your sisters family not to join you but if your parents are paying thier own way then yes they have the right to invite who they want...its thier vacation too...those are things you have to consider when making a extended family trip
 














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