Would you tell your adult niece or nephew the truth about the family?

Their mother’s side of the family is quick to judge and say how horrible their father is, when the truth is they themselves have done many of the same things. Lots of hypocrisy. The biggest difference is their father does the stuff and yells at the same time and the mother’s family is quiet when they do it.

What bother’s me is there is a message to the kids that their dad doesn’t love them, which drives me crazy. I’m not defending the guy, he does some things that I don’t like, but he is not all bad, and of course he loves his kids.

I’m not saying I am thinking of making a point to tell them, but when the opportunity comes up I have always stifled. Last night I was talking to my MIL, just us, and when she went on about him I stifled, because I’m not going to tell my MIL, who is in her 70’s, all the examples where they did the same things. She either would be in denial, be embarrassed, be angry, or be a nervous reck about it. None of which I really want to cause for her.

The kids it’s different, because they live thinking they got stuck with a crappy dad, and no one bothers to really talk to each other and find out the dad’s intentions.

A lot of it revolves around expectations of money. Paying for school, an apartment, cars, and there are some other side issues also.