Uncle wonders why family members are ghosting him
Your sister-in-law might be depressed, embarrassed, overwhelmed, introverted, or -- just doesn't like you very much. She has done a poor job of staying connected to her children's relatives.
What's your excuse?
You should reach out through whatever means you have. Express enthusiasm that they are so close, and offer to lend a hand/get together.
Your wife's idea to punish these children by not celebrating their milestones is -- unkind. I hope you'll both choose to behave differently in order to demonstrate to your nieces and nephew how to be in a family.
Dear Amy: My longstanding but somewhat ditzy friend sent an invitation to attend her daughter's college graduation.
I replied that my husband and I would be honored to attend. She then answered that she had a ticket for me, but not for him.
I asked her to try to get a ticket for my husband, and if she couldn't, we would just be joining them to celebrate afterward.
Amy, I invited this woman and her daughter to a resort weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary (with us paying for everyone), and she said that her daughter would only come if her boyfriend, whom we had never met, was invited. She offered to pay his way, although in the end we paid for him, too.
What do you think?
-- Perplexed Friend
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