Hi this might seem strange but i can feel myself spiralling down to depression because we are due to take our touring caravan away soon oh myself and small dog to be joined by my sister in law and her medium size dog.I am very worried about lack of sleep, lack of privacy and how to cope in general.( we will all be staying in the cvan which is a fixed bed four berth).My worring is causing arguments with my oh and lots of sleepless nights any idears everyone.
------------- You only live once live life to the full
Oh dear poor you. This would be my ultimate nightmare my SIL tried to move in with me and my new husband due to withdrawal symptoms from her dear brother, proceeded to compete with me over every little thing and even now is argumentative, if I did something she's done it better or if I've had a bad time she's had it worse and so it goes on.
But your SIL may not be as bad as that.
How did this happen! Sometimes it just has to be a no. One thing a husband has to decide is who is more important, his wife or his sister. He should choose his wife (my husband chose his sister - but his brothers wives having the same problem as me had the support of their husbands at least). I would bow out, let the two of them go together. Let you have a while off - spoil yourself, read some books, go for a facial. And then make sure that your husband is primed for the next time your SIL wants to go away.
Agree with that. Whats the point of going away at all if you are going to hate every second of it? Tell your hubby that if he wants to take his sister & her dog then he can go without you.
It is unreasonable to be asked to share the small space of a caravan, with somebody who is not part of your immediate family, if you do not want to.
Thank you for the replies it was my suggestion for a weekend sil is lovely easy to get along with but always on the go while i am more laid back,oh suggested the weekend be extended to a week i could cope with a shorter hol just one or two nights but the thought of six nights is proving to be too much. we are due to go at the end of may for the week already wishing the days away to when its all over
------------- You only live once live life to the full
Sounds like you've painted yourself into a bit of a corner there, agreeing to the weekend in the first place and not putting your foot down about the week. You could always send them out for the day and have some downtime on your own with the little dog, maybe? Nights could be tricky, but it's just a week, when all's said and done. If it's a bad week, then it won't be happening again, which - in a way! - solves the problem. No point getting too stressed about it, you will be permanenetly on edge and that will just make things worse. Good luck, anyway! You don't want to fall out with your sister in law over it if she's generally okay.
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
oh an extra pair of hands to go get the water! clean doggie poop up, and cart the full waste water to the drain, and if she uses the loo then she has to take a turn at empting it too! day 3 and she will want to go home
Oh dear, I can imaging a similar posting from my Brother-in-law, except he not only has to put up with his sister-in-law visiting but also her OH and 2 pre-teen girls. Poor man!
If you like your SIL, and normally get along with her, I'm quite sure you will do pretty good, if you all can respect one anothers need for privacy.
I had a few holidays with my husband, our two children, his mother and my mother in one caravan and most of the time we enjoyed it very much.
It really can work, don't worry too much
Now, you are trying to cross the bridges and see the difficulties before you get to them here! You are worrying yourself over things that may never happen. Cross those bridges when you come to them. Establish the privacy rules as you come across them. Establish how many days you are expecting her to stay before you go. If hubby wants to stay a week, let sis stay just for the weekend, then go home - tell her you need some time alone with hubby. If all goes well, you can always have another longer holiday together another time.
Do you have an awning, it can make a big difference if there are more people and dogs.
Thanks for all the replies some very good advice. sil is staying the whole time unfortunately, we do have a holiday booked for sept just us and the dog which will be great. just need to make sure that i don't get in this situation again as it has drove me to take antidepressants. we wont get any privacy and time for us two alone the best i can hope for is that oh takes sil out every afternoon to give me some peace we do have an awning and will make use of that
------------- You only live once live life to the full
If your SIL is lovely, and you get on with her, could you suggest that one evening she 'dog sits' while you and hubby go for meal as a couple? She might enjoy the solitude too (especially towards the end of the week).
Pretend that you're young again and just forget the lack of sleep and enjoy it?
It's a week, don't worry about it or it'll seem worse every time you think about what could go wrong. If it doesn't work out, you won't do it again.
You might enjoy it more as instead of lazing about you'll do something and probably have more energy as a result.
------------- Dogs die in hot cars!
They also die if you leave them in the freezer.
Please keep your dogs at room temperature!
I have had several camping hols with my SIL, we have a great time, we argue sometimes and fall out, but mainly due to too much vino,everything is forgotten in the mornings.
But I wouldn't change it for the world, we have so much fun and laugh so much my sides ache, it's a shame your holiday might not be so fun, france last year.
I once went on holiday with a friend, who, to say the least is the opposite of me. I put forward 'ground rules'- that if there was something she wanted to do or somewhere she wanted to go, and I didn't, to do so, and not put me under pressure to join her - the same went for myself. On the whole this worked perfectly. Like, if she wanted to go to Mass, I would find a bar !! If we did go our own way, we arranged to meet up after and exchange our experiences. We did have a good holiday with no disputes what so ever.