Was invited by in laws for Christmas Eve dinner weeks in advance. They even invited my mom and grandma. They served us 3-4 day old meat from a dinner party they had days earlier. There was no new food prepared for us including even boiled vegetables being 3 days old. They are wealthy people as am I.
Are we wrong to feel disrespected by this?
I live in a world of disrespect. I have no biological children (not by choice) and am the oldest/only female child with 3 brothers with controlling wives. We get the “leftover” time in everyone’s schedule, often completely forgotten we are actually family. I gave up years ago and it’s gotten a lot easier. I use to have holidays here, but as families grew, they quit coming. We have been married for decades and have carved out our own niche. I go where invited, spend time and move on. We celebrate holidays alone and meet with them at times they can fit us in and it’s OK.
similar situation here… accepting that I am not and will never be the center of their attention, has given me the freedom to enjoy my life the way I like. And get together with them as life allows. Having no children ourselves, my husband and I learned to go with the flow, and know that Christmas will never be like our childhood experiences, because you can’t create that without children. Or with siblings spouses calling the shots.