Familial Venting

I love my family. No honestly, I do. I think they're fun and funny and usually a blast to be around. But sometimes...

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about Thanksgiving. He was telling me about how he is the family member that always gets picked on, and when he defends himself, he becomes the jerk. That is similar to how my family works. Except it's more than just being picked on.

For some reason, I'm an old maid at 24. It's like there's "something wrong" with me because I didn't get married before I was 20. They look at me with pity and when I try to defend myself they label me bitter.

Case in point: my cousin Constantine (yes that's his REAL name) asked me if I was married yet. I said no. He asked what was wrong with me. I said I was fine being single. He laughed very condescendingly and said that guys only get worse with age (gotta love that encouragement) and told me to "get on it!"

I was asked a total of 5 times where my husband/boyfriend were. And I'm sorry but people telling me to get married that were married and divorced by 25... I'm not taking their "advice" or whatever it is.

Secondly, and maybe this just comes with the whole divorced parents thing, but I can't seem to please everyone. I can't spend enough time with either side. I feel like I disappoint everyone because I don't see them as much as they would like to see me. Which I realize sounds really narcissistic.

Today, for example, I went to go see Enchanted. Well it was like pulling teeth to get my family to make a decision on when to see it. I kept asking and asking... because I knew that if I didn't get a straight time out of them, I would end up getting roped in to another familial event that would inevitably be at the same time that they wanted to see the movie and then it would be a lose/lose situation. And I would be the one feeling like a jerk. Like always.

When I told my Dad I was going to the ranch with him for Thanksgiving this year he said, "Oh! You decided to grace us with your presence this year?" As if I had been absent for the past 10 years...

Which is completely unfair because I have swapped years between my mom and my dad for Thanksgiving and Christmas for as long as I can remember. And if one more thing is said about me going on the cruise with my mom and stepdad and their family for Christmas I am going to SCREAM.

You know, about this time, when people see me raking in Christmas presents because of my two sets of parents and 4 sets of grandparents and huge family, they will say "wow... it must be great to have divorced parents."

I would swap all of my loot for a whole, unbroken family any day. In a heartbeat.