Lisaknowing how much you love my mom, you are so going to get a kick out of this story. First, though, let me back up. My MIL has always been oldeven though I met her when she was only 60. She has always been somewhat feeble and weak and needy and whiny. And while she is a good person in many ways, I dont like how she treats her family. She never has any praise for her son (my husband) or our kids. Jeff can have the biggest accomplishment, and when he tells her about it, it is never Congratulations! or I am so proud of you. Rather it is, Oh, I see.
Infuriating for me because, as Lisa knows, my mom is like the most supportive mother on the planet. The example I always like to give is that if one day I went to her and said, Mom, I know what I want to do with my life. I have found my true calling
.I am going to run through the streets naked! She would just say, Ok, then, youre going to need the right shoes, so lets get to the store
She is supportiveness personified. Add to that, she is just effusive about me and the kids (and Jeff, too) at every turn. Any achievement or accomplishment is met with a supreme amount of pride and praise.
So you can already see, with just this, how different my mom is from my MIL. But heres the story I love to tell. It really goes to the heart of how different they are. When Jeff and I set the date for our wedding (it was in Marchgross month, I know
). Anyway, we told MIL and she sat there, just completely distraught and wringing her hands. Oh, no. What if there is still ice on the ground? I might slip and fall. Will there be someone who can help me in from the parking lot? And what about driving there? What if there is ice or freezing rain? I am just so nervous about the ice. She was a wreck. So then we tell MY mom. Her reaction was to throw her hands into the air in frustration. I have plans for an ice climb that week-end! It will be the last week-end of the season for that. I got a new pick axe and everything
I really wanted to try it out this season and not have to wait for next year to get in an ice climb.
You can see how my MIL basically makes me cringe, given the stellar example of a mother that I have.
Fast forward to now. For a variety of reasons, she is flying down to FL with me next week. She is visiting her sister and is TERRIFIED to fly (again, in contrast my mother the world-traveling anthropologist who just got back from Egypt where she slept out in the desert on nothing but a yoga mat). The only way she can visit her dear sister is if someone flies with her and does *everything* for her. I mean everything. Lets remember that I will already have two young girls to be in charge of. Jeff and Riley are taking a separate flight and she cant go with them, so she has to go with me.
Since making the decision to come with us, she has called me 4 times a day with questions
just panicking. What can I bring through security? What will I do it if beeps at me? Will you carry my purse for me? I am afraid someone will snatch it from me. All of that type of thing. And then, once on the plane, she will sit there and pray and bite her nails and read the Bible for the ENTIRE flight.
And then she will want to be the last one off the flight because she is nervous about taking her time, etc. She wants to move slowly and cautiously, and all of that. Again, in contrast to my triathlete mother who won her age group in her tri! I should mention that my MIL lives in and maintains her own house (with FIL). Drives, does volunteer work, and all of that. She is hardly house-bound. Like I said, she just as *always* been old and feeble.
Aside for the obvious reasons, I dont want her with me because (1) my girls have no clue right now that there are people who are afraid to fly. It isnt in their frame of reference to even think that anyone WOULD be afraid. So I really dont want them exposed to this; (2) I had a really nice day planned with just me and my girls. Pedicures before leaving, lunch at the airport once were checked in, and so on. Just the three of us. Now all of that is out. Not to mention the surprise of the trip. (They know we are going, but I told them we fly out on Sunday and we really go on Friday. MIL is arriving Thursday night
because she cant deal with driving over Friday morning even though there is plenty of time. So now I am going to have to figure something out. I dont care about the surprise all that much since I have surprised them several times. The main thing is that I need them to get a good nights sleep. If they are too excited to sleep, then traveling will NOT be fun for any of us.)
And honestly, I am trying so hard to be good about this because it is the right thing to do. She is elderly and visiting her sister will mean A LOT to her. But the bottom line is that I just dont wanna! But its done. Her ticket is purchased and the plans are made.
And that, my friends, in the MIL drama! Lisaarent you so glad???
Liz. 
Why do people do things like this! You will rock your new outfit though, I have no doubt!
