Tag: in-law

You’ve been successful managing most aspects of your complicated life and are proud of the relationships you’ve nurtured and maintained through it all. Whether you’re a baby boomer, a millennial or somewhere in between, research tells us that your odds of becoming a caregiver to a loved one through illness or age are quite high.

Much has been written about whether taking on a caregiving role strengthens or shatters the relationship you share with your significant other. I think the unfulfilling answer is, it depends.

Do you have a mother-in-law or a daughter-in-law who says she is "fine" or who says nothing at all, but then starts in with obvious pouts; loud, heavy sighs; and those undermining "accidental" oversights?

No matter what she says or doesn't say, her actions are screaming the real truth: She is not happy with you. This is called passive aggressive behavior, and it's not your imagination—it's very real!

Dealing with this behavior (passive and unassuming on the surface, but nastily aggressive toward you underneath) can be incredibly difficult, draining, and frustrating.

Your list is endless: Mad dash to the baby store to get a special something for your sister’s latest offspring. Wandering through the mall praying for inspiration for something suitable (not too personal, not too impersonal) for that picky-but-invaluable client. Wondering, what on earth you’re going to get your father-in-law since he never wears anything new, has no hobbies and already has access to every movie on his 42-inch flat screen.

And then, of course, there’s the tree to decorate.