Oct
23
2014

Meeting the In-Laws

Yesterday, we accompanied my father in-law to his daughter’s wedding food tasting. It was also my first time meeting her parents in-law. I was surprised to see how young and chatty her mother in-law is and how friendly she was; making effort to keep the conversation going throughout lunch.

meeting the in-laws 3

My father in-law with his very cute grandsons. Haha.. Yes lah, MY sons :P Ethan was munching on nuts hence that mouth >_<

meeting the in-laws 2

Gosh my eye bags. Ayden did not sleep a bit the night before due to his blocked nose so I was practically a zombie that day but how come he still looks so fresh? -.-

Anyway, back to the in-laws topic. I am never as chatty with my in-laws. Maybe because we have a language barrier. I don’t speak Chinese while they don’t speak English. They do speak Malay but I remember my father in-law was unwilling to converse with me in that language when we first met. He might be willing to speak to me in that language now but after so long, we just don’t make the effort anymore. Each time I meet them, like a robot, these are the only words I utter out – Pa eat, Pa I go home, Pa Bye. Ma eat, Ma I go home, Ma Bye. All that translated to Mandarin lah. I don’t know if they understand my strange sounding Mandarin or not but I guess they kind of got used to those words by now.

meeting the in-laws

When I first got Ethan, they were quite disappointed that Ethan speaks only English too but by 4 years old, we sent that boy to BaoBei (Mandarin enrichment class) and he started to chatter in Mandarin from then on. These days, Ethan links us all together. My mother in-law glows with happiness each time Ethan (and also Ayden) visit her.

Darling once told me that it won’t kill me to make more effort to speak to my in-laws but I jokingly answered him that less talking means less arguing. Do you agree with me? Haha. I have two sons. In future, my daughter in-laws gonna treat me the same and THEN, I’ll know how bad I’ve been …

Tags: in-laws

About the Author: Merryn Tan

9 Comments + Add Comment

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Charmaine October 23, 2014 at 2:15 pm

Haha! Learn Mandarin from Ethan lah then can bonding with him also ma right?
But sometimes, I do agree that talk less is better, at least on things that need to speak out your opinion la XD

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Rose October 23, 2014 at 3:07 pm

Lol. No problem for me with my in-laws as we all converse in English and Chinese. I remember they were happy to have their 1st grandchild speak English like the ang mo. The tv influence. Lol. But on other hand, my parents had problem communicate with my girl when she was young as both not good with English. But time passed, no more language barrier as now I encourage my kids to speak both Chinese and English.

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amanda October 23, 2014 at 7:25 pm

I totally agree! I used to stay under the same roof as my MIL when she was alive… used to hide in the room all the time coz cakap banyak gaduh banyak and she wont understand things that we do and comment banyak.. hear edy sakit hati.. so what’s the point to sakitkan own hati

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suituapui October 24, 2014 at 7:54 am

Yes, what goes around comes around! So better be nice to your in-laws. Hehehehehe!!!!! Who’s getting married? Go invite me or not?

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[SK] October 24, 2014 at 9:57 am

luckily you mentioned “Gosh my eye bags”.. cos the first attention was on Ayden who was in the center, and then Ethan who was behind.. then only i saw one “object” with a big eyebag hidden at one corner, never thought that was you~~ :D

p/s: running my laptop on battery so the screen was dimmer, so that “object” was also darker~~ :D

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Choi Yen October 24, 2014 at 11:43 am

Maybe you can ask Ethan teach you basic conversation Mandarin words :P

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lina October 24, 2014 at 1:24 pm

Hahaha it is kinda true though…. less communication may mean less argument. :P

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mun October 25, 2014 at 2:31 am

Well at least Ethan can be the translator now. By your last sentence I guess you are thinking of the future now but still a long way to go.

I must say Ayden really looks happy and cute in the photos above.

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Yan October 25, 2014 at 5:16 pm

I am a chatty box wherever I go, but then I am not whether my PIL appreciate me the chatty box or not. I am just being myself, hehehe! So far, no major argument, minor one is tolerable.
By the way, no talk is fine, but have to remember to put a smile on the face. My SIL is stingy with her smile, so no one likes to talk to her too. lol!

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.