Reply To: Husband who needs advice

Hmmm. Rather than framing this as a permanent situation, why don’t you just take it one visit at a time? If your wife was recovering from a physical illness, you might say, let’s give Mom a quiet day and visit Grandma/Grandpa, kids! Of course, packing the kids up and going off to relatives is a big kerfuffle, and maybe you wish your wife was involved. This is such a small part of your family life—or it should be. And if you want to bring your family of origin together with your nuclear family, find another way to do it aside from immersing you all in their ‘perfect’ life. Plan a trip somewhere fun for a day so you’re on neutral ground, plan a picnic in summer.