Naken Barbies and other serious issues...

My MIL is nutty.

Several weeks ago she came to our house for a visit while my hubby and his dad went fishing. The entire time she was here, probably close to 5 hours, her main concern was that all of the barbie dolls be clothed.

Now, my girls are OBSESSED with their barbie dolls. All of their barbie dolls. Most of which were bought for them by my MIL. They play with them on a regular basis and have created these amazing storylines for them. I think it is wonderful. I also love that my girls don't really notice when there are no clothes on their dolls. I love that they don't just play with them to dress and undress them and that they convey their comfort with their own tiny little bodies by not caring if barbie is a 'naken girl'.

That entire visit and another one just this past Monday I was so irritated. Why on earth does a barbie doll have to have clothes on? Why can't they pretend that "Gabriella" has on a beautiful wedding dress? It is no lie that at one point my MIL was so concerned that she told my oldest that she would not play barbie dolls with her until they were all dressed. WHAT? Seriously? It took everything I had to ignore it (mostly) and keep my mouth shut. My MIL is 77 years old, so I chose being respectful over airing my annoyances.

This is the same woman who got irritated with my 4yo for wanting to play Candyland to her own rules and believes that when coloring, you must finish the picture you start before you can move on to another page. I take major issue with that second one, as when I was a kid, I would get a brand new coloring book and color my one favorite object on each page before I went back to complete a whole page.

My MIL has lots of crazy little quirks like this...though my husband tells me she wasn't always so wacky. On the whole, I am thankful to have a MIL who loves her grandchildren and even me! She is kind and giving and willing to help out whenever she can.

I am sure in 20 years I will truly cherish these stories....laughing when my husband and I share them with our grown kids. For now, I will keep biting my tongue....as much as it hurts!

On a side note: Already laughed about by hubby and I on a very regular basis, is the time my MIL shouted to my FIL (who is hard of hearing) "Show (dh) your balls!" after his hernia surgery. Yeah....good times.