I don't even know where to begin..Guess the beginning would be good.
A few years ago my parents bought 2 ATV's (four wheelers) for all the grandkids to ride. One is a 90cc and one is a 50cc-one is a bit bigger than the other and so on. My sister's kids pretty much for the last year or so have controlled every move those things have made, including when I called my mom a few times to borrow them, I was told to call my sister and ask her if they were planning on taking them first. Another time, we went out to let the kids ride at my parent's house (and yes we called ahead of time to let them know what our plans were), my sister and her husband came and took both of the 4 wheelers and left my kids in tears. My youngest (aka:"crash"), who is 2 months older than my nephew was not allowed to ride the 90 because he would crash it, according to my father, yet Jon replaced the front bumper 3 times because my nephew hit trees. When we did manage to get time for the boys to ride, we spent 3/4 of the time fixing what was torn up from my nephew and neice riding them.
The boys decided probably 2 years ago that they wanted motorcycles so they could race in the youth races with GNCC. Jon and I pondered this for about a year before we decided that we could pull off the expense and the boys were experienced enough with riding 4 wheelers to manage moving up a step to 2 wheels. We came up with the idea that we would make a chart and if they got 100 stars on it each, they could ask Santa to bring them dirt bikes for Christmas this year. The stars included small jobs like dusting, picking up without arguing, pottying on time and so on.
As I posted in a couple Christmas threads, my kids got dirt bikes from Santa this year. Well, New Year's Day, we took the kids, my parents, and Jon's parents with us to a new indoor MX track that some of Jon's friends built in Kentucky. Jon's stepdad, who works at a motorcycle shop in Indy, borrowed a earlier model of the same size to ride with the boys in case they had any trouble. Of course we all had a great time, no major injuries, etc, etc..Sunday, we took the boys to ride at my parents' house since they already have a few trails made that they ride 4 wheelers on. My sister is there with her kids. She asks if her son can ride one of the boys' bikes. We substituted him with the 4 wheeler that they have basically controlled for the past year. As we are leaving, my dad asks Jon how much they want for another bike up where Jon's stepdad works. As we were leaving, I asked Jon what that was all about and he tells me that my dad wants to buy a motorcycle to keep at his house so my nephew can ride with the boys. I didn't say anything all the way home, basically because I was trying to sort out whether I should be annoyed or not.
Well, I am. I have narrowed my annoyance-if you will-this was supposed to be something special that the boys had. Kind of like their own little thing that they could do on their own. Jon and I bought those with our money, we didn't borrow any from anyone. He bought one and I bought the other. The boys worked all year long to ask Santa for these things and now they won't be so special anymore. Add the fact that since it would be another motorcycle, Jon will be called to fix it when it breaks. He is due to start racing again himself the end of this month, combined with teaching the boys how to ride and fixing their breaks and damages, and the 50 (that my nephew killed) he is already working on rebuilding.
It's like at Christmas, my mom asked the boys what they wanted because she didn't have a clue what to buy them. They wanted these interactive robots. My mom didn't buy them because my sister wouldn't let my nephew have one and she just couldn't buy them for the boys and not him too. It doesn't bother me that they didn't get the robots at all. They were noisy and would have drove me crazy, it was just the usual, everyone has to have the same thing. I really do love my sister and her kids, but I am so tired of playing this game of if one has it everyone needs it. I mean, really, is it such a sin that my kids have something that my nephew doesn't, or am I just being an ass about the whole thing?
Jon says not to worry about it, but it just really irritates and frustrates me. I can't say anything to my parents because it will just hurt their feelings and they will say that I hate my sister (the usual).
A few years ago my parents bought 2 ATV's (four wheelers) for all the grandkids to ride. One is a 90cc and one is a 50cc-one is a bit bigger than the other and so on. My sister's kids pretty much for the last year or so have controlled every move those things have made, including when I called my mom a few times to borrow them, I was told to call my sister and ask her if they were planning on taking them first. Another time, we went out to let the kids ride at my parent's house (and yes we called ahead of time to let them know what our plans were), my sister and her husband came and took both of the 4 wheelers and left my kids in tears. My youngest (aka:"crash"), who is 2 months older than my nephew was not allowed to ride the 90 because he would crash it, according to my father, yet Jon replaced the front bumper 3 times because my nephew hit trees. When we did manage to get time for the boys to ride, we spent 3/4 of the time fixing what was torn up from my nephew and neice riding them.
The boys decided probably 2 years ago that they wanted motorcycles so they could race in the youth races with GNCC. Jon and I pondered this for about a year before we decided that we could pull off the expense and the boys were experienced enough with riding 4 wheelers to manage moving up a step to 2 wheels. We came up with the idea that we would make a chart and if they got 100 stars on it each, they could ask Santa to bring them dirt bikes for Christmas this year. The stars included small jobs like dusting, picking up without arguing, pottying on time and so on.
As I posted in a couple Christmas threads, my kids got dirt bikes from Santa this year. Well, New Year's Day, we took the kids, my parents, and Jon's parents with us to a new indoor MX track that some of Jon's friends built in Kentucky. Jon's stepdad, who works at a motorcycle shop in Indy, borrowed a earlier model of the same size to ride with the boys in case they had any trouble. Of course we all had a great time, no major injuries, etc, etc..Sunday, we took the boys to ride at my parents' house since they already have a few trails made that they ride 4 wheelers on. My sister is there with her kids. She asks if her son can ride one of the boys' bikes. We substituted him with the 4 wheeler that they have basically controlled for the past year. As we are leaving, my dad asks Jon how much they want for another bike up where Jon's stepdad works. As we were leaving, I asked Jon what that was all about and he tells me that my dad wants to buy a motorcycle to keep at his house so my nephew can ride with the boys. I didn't say anything all the way home, basically because I was trying to sort out whether I should be annoyed or not.
Well, I am. I have narrowed my annoyance-if you will-this was supposed to be something special that the boys had. Kind of like their own little thing that they could do on their own. Jon and I bought those with our money, we didn't borrow any from anyone. He bought one and I bought the other. The boys worked all year long to ask Santa for these things and now they won't be so special anymore. Add the fact that since it would be another motorcycle, Jon will be called to fix it when it breaks. He is due to start racing again himself the end of this month, combined with teaching the boys how to ride and fixing their breaks and damages, and the 50 (that my nephew killed) he is already working on rebuilding.
It's like at Christmas, my mom asked the boys what they wanted because she didn't have a clue what to buy them. They wanted these interactive robots. My mom didn't buy them because my sister wouldn't let my nephew have one and she just couldn't buy them for the boys and not him too. It doesn't bother me that they didn't get the robots at all. They were noisy and would have drove me crazy, it was just the usual, everyone has to have the same thing. I really do love my sister and her kids, but I am so tired of playing this game of if one has it everyone needs it. I mean, really, is it such a sin that my kids have something that my nephew doesn't, or am I just being an ass about the whole thing?
Jon says not to worry about it, but it just really irritates and frustrates me. I can't say anything to my parents because it will just hurt their feelings and they will say that I hate my sister (the usual).
