*** Broomstick ***

willywally5

Anxious to hear how your shower went! Soooo hoping everyone was on their best behavior and you had a great time!

broomstick88

Hey there,

it went much better than expected. everyone showed up except for one aunt who was avoiding my mother. i made sure to make the rounds with everyone and kept the big smile on.

during the gift opening everyone was good up until my stepmom gave me her gift right after i opened my mom's and it was THE SAME THING x2!!!! everyone got silent for a second and then i kinda happy shouted "wonderful, now i can have everyone over for dinner at one time" and FMIL hopped in and said "you two must have cordinated!!! how wonderful of you to do that for her since i know she regestered for multiples of that dish set"
this was it looked like they planned it and were the smart ones and let my mom take credit for it all.

Mom did not show to the family dinner out the night before but she had let me know if she didn't think she could put on a happy face then she was going to cal out and i appreciated that.

we had the big vintage 1950's tea party theme with big hats and white gloves and the whole deal. it was a lot of fun and there were plenty of people and food to keep everyone distracted. i will post pictures or a link at some point. the costumes were a trip!

thank you for asking! i really did have a much nicer time than i had expected. i didn't sleep at all the night before from anxiety but i did as everyone said and had my mom bring two friends to keep her company. when she started feeling snippy they took her out to play croquet on the lawn. now i just have a TON of thank you notes to get sent out this week!!!

willywally5

Oh, I'm soooo glad! The 50s tea party theme sounds so cool! 

And the duplicate gift sounds like it ended up being a blessing in disguise! Sounds like you handled it perfectly!

Even though your mom didn't go to the dinner the night before, at least she seems to know her limits as to what she can handle and is putting forth an effort to make sure peace is maintained. 

And now you know that they are capable of getting along! Hopefully that will ease your anxiety for the next event. 

Again, so pleased to hear you had a much better time than anticipated. YAY! 

MairePoppy

Your FMIL is brilliant!  It seems that flattery and compliments is the way to your mom's heart. I'm glad things went so well : )