Hoping for a BREAK!

I was right to worry about this visit.

They leave tomorrow. It's been a complicated week. I seem to have left my rose-colored glasses somewhere else because I have not had it easy. To put things in perspective for mysel and readers of this blog, I'll summarize the week with a PRO/CON list.


PRO's

• Eric's dad (John) has been incredibly helpful with loading the dishwasher and taking out the trash.
• He has been fabulous with Emily and Emily seems to really know she's safe around him.
• I've been able to take Emily on a stroller ride nearly every day with Debbie.
• I had an evening to myself with Emily.
• Eric's parents have picked up groceries for me a couple of times and grabbed dinner for us one night.
• John was able to feed Emily a bottle and even fed her a few bites of food.
• My supply of breastmilk has not fluctuated much.
• I'm learning that I value my parents a lot more.

CON's

• Emily has not been able to take a single nap undisturbed by yelling or banging in the kitchen or slamming doors, except her overnight sleeping. Which is not always disturbed but always had had stomping up the stairs and doors slamming
• Debbie called my scrambled eggs "crumbly, like rice" and continued to compare them in a story about her mother-in-law making burnt pancakes because her dad made him like that. Thus, she implied that my mom taught me to make them that way! (Anyone who has had my eggs, please weigh-in on the subject).
• Debbie also did that to a few other foods of mine (pasta - "plain," for example. And she salt-and-peppered everything I gave her without tasting it).
• I've felt more left out of and excluded from this family than anything I ever have in my life. Since Eric is at work, I feel like no one's in my corner unless he's home with anything, especially when I ask if we can quiet down for Emily's nap.

For the record, it's not like they are using regular voices and I'm making them whisper. Josh is yelling at the TV or to someone next to him, John yells at Josh, and Debbie's clanging dishes around.

I've been miserable for the last few days. The first day or two was good but now? It's so frustrating. I know it doesn't seem like big stuff on here but I really don't want to get super deep into it. It's just - I'm getting criticized for everything from Emily to my cooking, no one cares if Emily sleeps, and no one is backing me up.