My husband and I had pretty much made peace with the fact that wed never have children. Then, ten years into our marriage, out of the blue, I found myself pregnant.
This rather put a damper on my mother-in-laws favourite party joke: telling my family, Well, it seems I shant get any grandchildren from my sonall thanks to my barren daughter-in-law! Not exactly subtle, is she? Not that it bothered her too much; she already had a granddaughterher eldest sons daughter. Hearing her little speeches made my toes curl, but what can you do? Grin and bear it, and I did. More than once.
I adore my husband, and thankfully, the feeling is mutualhes my rock. Between countless doctors appointments, his quiet worry, and my far-too-frequent sob sessions into the pillow, it finally paid off: were having a baby!
My mother-in-laws granddaughter produced a little girl last year, and I, just four months ago, welcomed my son into the world. Despite the doctors assuring us there was nothing wrong with either of us, my husband and I are still flooredlike winning the parenting lottery. Meanwhile, my grandmothers reaction, bless her, has been anything but predictable after the arrival of her great-granddaughter and now, her great-grandson.
The son shed doted on for so long (my husband) now floats entirely under her radar, while her great-granddaughter is the apple of her eye.
Whenever the whole gang gets together, the conversation is solely about the great-granddaughter: what shes said, how shes grown, her latest tooth counton and on. My own son, however, seems to not fit her narrative from the moment he arrived, so shes promptly lost interest.
I cant quite fathom my mother-in-laws logic. For ten years, she scolded and ridiculed me for not fitting in with their family tradition (as she tells it, every woman in the history of their family pops out babies like confetti), but now that its finally happened? She doesn’t even want to hold her own sons child! Meanwhile, the great-granddaughter gets showered with designer outfits, toys, and the kind of tiny gold necklaces you only buy with too much spare cashpounds, of course.
