5.) Your family is your family.
What do I mean by this? Sometimes in-laws try to influence your household in a negative way. They get into your business when they shouldn’t. It’s okay to have an opinion, but dictating how to raise kids and how to manage every other aspect your family is not good. I’ve never had any of my in-laws try to tell me what to do and how to do it, as it relates to my family. However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be open to listening to suggestions made in good faith when it comes to certain familial issues. Experience in handling a situation could actually help the family. However, for the most part I think it’s important that spouses are on the same page in keeping family members at bay when it comes to managing a home. Any one person outside the home influencing another person inside the home that causes friction within the family is a bad thing.
Listening to people talk about their in-laws made me realize that they can be a blessing or a huge problem. But establishing a good relationship with your other family is a two-way street that sometimes takes patience, clear communication and a little tolerance. At the end of the day, family is family and you must figure out what’s most important to you and your spouse. Some things you may be able to accept, but other things not so much. Next time when you’re sitting around the table for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with your in-laws think about these 5 key characteristics and see who checks the box.