in law vent...sorry, long...

Back story: DH has a work conference in FL this week where spouses (read: wives) are expected to come, so several months ago we asked both sets of grandparents if anyone would be available to come to town and watch the girls (ILs are in FL, my parents are in IN);  both grandmothers say they are available, DH says he wants his mom to come.  I would have preferred my mom (she is much more low key than MIL), but I was fine with MIL (the girls have stayed with her before).  In proposing this idea, we assumed that whoever was coming would stay at our place and the girls would be on their normal schedule (daycare, school), giving whichever mom as much of a break during the day as she wanted.  Once it was decided that MIL was coming, she decides that she wants to maximize her time here with all of her grandkids (BIL lives in upper Mont Cty, we're in Falls Church), so she will stay with BIL (who has a 7mth old) and our girls will stay there as well.  We are not thrilled with this idea--BIL currently has his in laws living with him and it felt like now we were imposing on a whole other household, plus it seemed like the sleeping arrangements would be much more comfortable for MIL at our place--but MIL insisted.

Fast forward to this weekend.  MIL comes to town, ILs come over to our place yesterday for a joint bday celebration (DH and DD#2) and they are leaving, we start to discuss plans for getting the girls to BIL's on Tuesday.  DH and I suggest that BIL and MIL come down to our place so that MIL can take our car, which already has the car seats in it, making any trips they do over the week bit easier.  MIL seems unsure about this and starts making a bit of a fuss...I can't quite figure out what the issue is and I am assuming that it's because she doesn't want to impose on BIL's time to drive to our place.  When they get back to BIL's, MIL calls us and says she is not comfortable driving the girls...that the drive would be too confusing and she is worried about getting lost.  Then I put it all together...while, yes, she is staying at BIL's to maximize grandkid time, I think fundamentally she doesn't want to be by herself with the kids at our place and she doesn't want to deal with driving here in the winter.  All very reasonable concerns, I just wish she could have just been clear about that from the beginning (like back when we asked her to come) and saved some drama.  Which goes back to why I really would have preferred my mom coming...my mom is so much more low key and in the long run the logistics for us would have been FAR simpler.  Oh well, what's important is that the girls get to spend time with their grandmother...and their aunt...and uncle and cousin, right?

On a separate in law-related note, a priceless quote from my SIL yesterday:

(squeezing DD#2's bare leg) "oh poor baby, you must be so cold! (DD was in a fleece dress, with no tights on, inside)...but I guess you're used to it"

This is the woman who had her baby in 4 layers in July when it was 90 degrees outside.

To each her own, right?