Family hell

So, we went to a family reunion (Pants side, and they aren't aware of this site, so I will feel free to family-bash). Spent the day up north. Hmmm.

First, might I just say, I love my children and they are the best children on earth. Kitten went all day without a nap and it only got dicey at the very end. Meimei was her usual joyful self, but was especially cute in the process today. Yay for my gorgeous, well-behaved kids!

But then, um, yeah. Let's start with the two vicious dogs, who apparently hate all humans, that were oh-so-wisely brought to a family reunion where there would clearly be children. My kid's scared enough of dogs without experiencing your mongrel threatening to tear her face off this afternoon, but only when she got within 2 feet, you evil minion of satan.

But yay for my brother-in-law's big, loveable Golden that does exactly as he's told and let Kitten pet him as much as she wanted and would wait patiently while she got up the guts to get close enough to do it. He didn't even try to lick her. Or take away her chocolate brownie. Good dog.

And boo for the branch of the family with 8 (or so) adopted, but very poorly supervised children. Um, do you realize your kid is eating rocks? Do you know he's shoving his fists into the jello, smashing handfuls into his mouth, and wiping the rest on his sweatshirt? "Boy behavior" does not begin to explain this. If you would stop adopting kids and actually parent the ones you have, they might actually have a clue about appropriate behavior. If your kid screams in my kid's face one more time, I'm gonna take him down.

Ugh, I hate these things. MIL gets all tense and freaky, and then Pants gets all tense and freaky, and BIL's wife gets all weird and catty and defensive, and SIL just tries to keep her head down and not get asked if she's dating, and BIL drinks all day. The kids's schedules get all out of wack and we're on the edge all day of nuclear meltdown. We have to run after Kitten all day, so we're both wiped out at the end of it.