NCDR: Why do people over complicate things?

abby8279

Every year my family has a  family reunion.  It's held at a huge camp where each individual family (my grandmother and her siblings family's) get their own cabins.  So we will be sharing this cabin with my siblings/nieces & nephews/aunts & uncles/cousins.  The reunion is coming up this weekend so emails are going around about who is bringing what.  It started with food which I agree needs to be sorted out.  After we figured out food then my 2 sisters started going crazy about other (what I think) are unnecessary things.  Even though the cabins are equipped with the necessities: hand soap/paper towels/tp/ect. they are insisting on bring extra shit.  Here are some of the things they are trying to delegate: 3 extra bottles of hand soap, 3 bottles of hand sanitizer, 2 new shower curtains, 2 candles for each bathroom, extra trash bags, extra dish soap, extra tp and paper towel, clorox wipes, the list goes on and on.  Did I mention the reunion is only the weekend long????  Can't get in until 5:30 on Fri. and leave early on Sun.  And if the cabins run out of the things they have stocked there are extras in the main lodge.  I just don't get it.  Especially since I have been so conscious lately of what I am consuming.  And all my aunts & uncles and cousins have stopped responding to the emails once we got the food sorted out.  I hope they don't lump me in w/ my sisters and think I am crazy too.  And the hard part is that if I don't offer to bring what they want me to that I will be labeled the "cheapskate" like they tend to do when I talk about conserving.  And they will get mad that I am not sharing in on what they think WE need.  So what should I do?  Give in and bring stuff that they want me to OR only take what I think is necessary for my family and risk them being peeved?  And we will be bringing a ton of stuff anyway b/c we have 2 babies- so 2 pack and plays, diapers, and everything else needed for them.

ETA: Thanks if you made it all the way through my message.  I wrote it while irritated so I am sure there are run on sentences and misplaces punctuation.  Vent over.

sarenu1

If it were my sisters, I'd tell them what I thought.  I'd just give them a call and talk it through.  Leave out the other family members.  And don't bother with emails, it leaves too much to interpetation.

Let them know that your car is already going to be packed to the max with the kids and their things and you'd prefer to stick with packing as little extra as possible.

flummadiddle85

Chickypoo2468 said:

Ok I'm sorry, I stopped reading at candles for the bathroom. If they want all that shit there then they can bring it themselves.

Yup. I'm just happy to remember everything for ourselves as it is. Especially with LOs. I wouldn't bother.

abby8279

@stringy813 They are huge cabins.  They basically have 2 rooms.  1 room is all bunk beds.  The other is 1 huge room with a kitchen, dining room, and living room.  Each cabin also has a deck with picnic tables and 2 bathrooms.  There are 8 or so big cabins and several small ones on the grounds and a main lodge.  Since my grandma's family is the biggest we don't all fit in our cabin.  Some people bring campers/tents.  Some stay at hotels.  And some stay at my grandma's who lives nearby.  We all kind of rotate who gets our family's cabin.

welly01

Maybe offer to bring FSTs instead of paper towels?

Sorry, I have no suggestions.  That is stupid.

abby8279

I think my family equates conserving with being cheap because they have no concept of being green at all!  My sister has 5 kids and they consume more than anyone I know.  They pay for an extra dumpster and theirs is already huge!  She will order shoes online in several sizes.  When she gets them she wears the ones that fit and does not return the others.  Those are just a couple examples.

BoothBaby

Yikes.  I would definitely stand up for yourself.  Who cares if you are the "cheapskate"?  There's no way I'd be spending extra $ on all that stuff when it sounds like the cabin is already well stocked!  Perhaps you can remind them that in years past no one needed to bring anything extra and it all worked out fine (assuming that is true, of course).

lookame3639

The best they'd get out of me is a bar of soap. There's no need for candles on the bathroom or other things like that. If they fuss then tell them you already had a full car and could only bring one extra item they had requested.

sarenu1

Chickypoo2468 said:

I don't even have candles in my bathrooms at home. Is this a necessity I was unaware of? Is that why my house is an effing disaster? Bc I haven't put out my candles? I don't understand.

I'm right there with you.  Mine are all hiding in the closet.

sarenu1

Chickypoo2468 said:

Andplusalso if I'm going somewhere with hand soap I'm sure as shit not bringing my own. Or tp. Or anything else they provide. It probably isn't top if the line but who cares? It's free. And 36 hours. If your ass needs to be wiped with a pillow then you should bring your own pillow and not inconvenience other people.

Tell them you will bring family cloth for extra toilet paper.  They will never ask again...

abby8279

@welly336 I offered to bring some dish towels (FSTs) and I got the response "we are not going home with dirty laundry".  Weird b/c I was offering to bring them.  And aren't they going home w/ dirty laundry anyway?

@sarenu1 That is funny b/c we just started using family cloth for #1s.  I could never tell them tho!  I will hide it if they come over.

@Chickypoo2468 I agree.  I am totally game for using what they stock for guests.  I don't need my own effing hand soap or double quilted Charmin.  I am glad you guys are sane like me.  They get me to thinking I am the weird one sometimes.