Sour relationship with parents leads to estrangement
In-laws do not actually need to like one another in order to have a relationship. They only need to keep their eye on the prize (family harmony, and peaceful and healthy relationships with the children). To reach this goal, they should at least learn to tolerate each other, not badmouth one another to other family members, and resolve disputes when they arise.
If your grandparents are comfortable cutting off your whole family and refusing to see their own great-grandchild (very sad), then you could assume that this dynamic goes back at least a generation. Don't perpetuate it.
Dear Amy: Our next-door neighbor, "Stan," is a 50-year-old widower who lives alone.
His three grown children live nearby.
Stan is a great neighbor -- helpful, dependable and respectful.
Lately, Stan has been doing light yard work wearing nothing but his bikini-style briefs. I'm talking underwear, here.
Our neighborhood is semi-private and the only way to see anyone is to be in your own backyard.
When I told my husband about Stan's attire, he shrugged it off.
Well, the other day I went over while Stan was wearing his briefs and asked him why he didn't wear swim trunks instead. He said that his swimsuit is even skimpier than his underwear, and that he wouldn't feel right wearing them in his yard.
He said that when he wears his very skimpy swimsuit at the beach, no one says a word.
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