I just got the most random email from my mother-in-law.
If you’ve read my blog for a long time you already know about her.
If you’re just joining, I’ll sum it up by saying she’s a lot like Amy’s mother in Everybody Loves Raymond. A whole lot like her. I swear she is daily escorted to Heaven on her lunch hour so that she can meet with God and assess the world’s events.
“Jenny, I’m thinking about making it rain in Djibouti. What do you think?” God asks.
Of course, my MIL concurs- afterall, it’s GOD!
Hmm, I wonder if they eat cucumber and feta salads? I bet they’re amazing.
Anyway, my MIL “guides” people a lot. She would never flat out say she thinks a person needs to do something, she will simply “guide” them, or say she “thinks” a person should do something a certain way.
I haven’t gotten an email from her in months (we talk on the phone once a week instead-YAY! ha ha). Then today I randomly get one a short one that says the expected, “It was so nice to have Will visit, etc.” However, 85% of this short letter was about how it’s so great Will has lost weight and she “hopes” (one of those guiding words) that he continues to lose weight because of the family history of diabetes, etc. She continues on with the little nudges saying, “It’s so important for Will to get the weight off now before any problems develop.”
I know with all my heart my sweet dear MIL means well with this letter. I truly know that.
However, I guess I’m just a little annoyed that it’s been months since we’ve emailed and the entire email I get is about Will’s fatness and need to lose weight.
Hmm
Maybe I should back track a little, because you’re probably reading this and thinking, “Grow up! It wasn’t that bad!”
and you’re right,
however, this issue has been ongoing thing with her.
Everytime we get together she “guides” me to cook healthier, not go out to eat as much, etc. I even got a Cooking Light subscription for my birthday (which by the way- I LOVE). I feel like she has blamed me for Will’s weight gain- which quite honestly is HILARIOUS because if you looked in our cupboards you might honestly go blind by all the healthy foods.
Yes. Blind.
I’m always in a bad mood when I’m at home and really needing something terribly inappropriate to eat- because we don’t have anything! Not one freaking ounce of chocolate, cookies (well, except south beach ones), or chips. I bought chocolate chips for the first time in ages last week.
Yep. I made Will gain weight. Uh huh. I forced lettuce wraps and pita sandwiches down his throat until he couldn’t hold anymore. I’d wait an hour so his stomach would settle and move on to round two, all the way until he was about to throw up. It was like a game we played.
Seriously! I really think she must think I have cupboards stacked full of vanilla frosting and teddy grahams, and that we eat frito chili pie for dinner each night.
I can’t control what Will eats outside of our house, but I can assure you that what he eats at home is healthy.
AND
(yes- AND)
Will has been doing AMAZING lately. I’ve never been prouder. I’ve been packing his lunch and he’s just gotten so disciplined. I think my MIL sees the weekend/vacationing side of us- which unfortuntely is quite different from our normal side.
But seriously- we can’t be blamed! They don’t have Taco Bueno in Kuwait! We HAVE to load up. It’s our duty!
Will is a grown man capable of making decisions on his own. It’s not my job to mother him and make him do things he doesn’t feel like doing. He already knows the risks of diabetes and that it runs in his family. He doesn’t need me constantly reminding him. It was Will finally making the decision on his own to get healthy, and I can assure you if it were me pestering him and nagging him about it it just would have driven him further away.
I really feel like going to the store and buying loads of corned beef, Costco sized bags of cheese, frozen pizzas, cheetos, gallon sized tubs of pudding, and a big fat fry daddy. Then, I want to strategically place them all over my kitchen and invite my MIL all the way from Oklahoma to our house for dinner one night.
Just for laughs.
She’d probably mutter (in her head, of course! Never out loud- remember? She eats lunch with God), “I knew it! I knew she was feeding Will to death!”
Ah, you gotta love spite (just kidding...kind of).
So that is today’s story.
Hmm, all of a sudden I’m really craving a big gooey chocolate-frosted brownie.
<3
Kudos to you though for buying healthy, and to Will also for eating healthy (when he’s home anyway!!) Keep up the good work - you both know the efforts you’ve taken and how much they’ve paid off… just ignore your MIL’s “guidance” - it looks like you’re doing just fine on your own 
I totally agree. Will is a big boy, and he has to make the decision himself. That being said, Will’s fatness? Really? That was kinda mean! Anyway, I understand about needing/trying to lose weight and eating healthy. I feel guilty because Aaron has gained some weight since moving here, but his mom actually was thankful...he was literally skin and bones before he moved here...but still...we need to eat more healthy and get our butts to the gym. It’s hard now, though, since they RIPPED OUT MY KITCHEN...yeah I could cook at home instead of their house...anyway enough of me. You missed the VMA’s I assume...and they were HORRIBLE...just in case you wanted to know :D