Back from Austinland

Scene I

B's mother has cleaned out numerous drawers for B's brother and sister-in-law to store their things while they are staying in Austin. Patty offers me a couple drawers to put our things in. I gratefully accept and begin to unpack into the offered space.

B's mother flips out and says, "They need all of those drawers!!"

"She offered. She said they had plenty of space. I didn't ask," I tell her, somewhat taken aback by the vehemence of her reaction.

"Oh, no. That can't be! I will clean some drawers for you in our room. What if you need to get something and someone is in there changing?"

"Isn't that what 'locks' are for," I think. "The same could be said for our clothes in YOUR room." Again I say nothing.

In the almost 12 years B & I have been married (and the 5 years we dated before that), his mom has NEVER cleared out a drawer for us to store our things while we visit.

Scene II

Three little children in a playroom crowded with toys. Two boys standing around a train table and a little girl across the room sitting on a stuffed horse.

The little boy picks a train piece off of the table. The bigger boy grabs it out of his hand. The little boy picks a house off of the table. Once again the bigger boy wrenches it from his hand.

"You can't snatch things from E's hand like that, Teddy!", says the little girl.

"But he's messing it all up!", wails the bigger boy.

"He's only a little baby. You can't just snatch things away from him. You have to teach him," says Teddy's 5-year old sister.

I choke back tears watching this little girl defend my little boy from his 7-year old cousin. What a good girl is our little Tori.

Scene III

B comes and says to me, "Pack up. We are leaving today."

Huh? I thought we were staying another day.

"We are leaving today."

As we are packing, I find that B's mom has been criticising us, saying what lousy parents we are, how disorganized we are, etc., etc.

Loading the car, B begins to waver about leaving a day early and his mother says, "You are too disorganized to be parents. You two should never have had children. You should just put E up for adoption."

B says to me, "Do you want to stay?"

"No. Let's get the f*ck out of here."