The Gift that Keeps on Giving

This Christmas will be in-law free. Sigh. New Years, however, will not. At first, I was OK with the plan: They would spend Christmas with my BIL and SIL who are expecting their first child in early January, fly from their house to our house for a week, then back to BIL and SIL. (Side note: SIL is freaking out that MIL will be there for the birth of the baby. Picture my evil smile here. ) It all sounds perfect, especially now that they have set the precedent of staying in a hotel while with us. Fa la la, the holidays will be merry. Then:

DH: Honey, don't be mad.

ME: What? Pause. Whaaaaat?

DH: Mom said that since the plane ticket is so much for them to come during the holidays, they are going to get us an air mattress for Christmas so they can stay at our house. She said they could sleep in the basement.

Are you freakin' kidding me? Now, let me fill you in on some details here. 1) We already own an air mattress, but it is a low to the ground one, primarily used for camping. 2) We have a roll-away bed in the baby's room, which was formerly the office/guest room. 3) Our basement is unfinished and unheated. 4) Our house is not terribly large, and seems even smaller as it is filled with, a baby swing, 2 bouncy chairs, a Bumboo seat, a Pack and Play, a Boppy pillow, a car seat, a booster seat, one dog with dog bed, 1 seven year old with 10,000 Legos, two Christmas trees, tons of Christmas presents and a partridge in a pear tree.

As you may have guessed, I did not heed my DH's advice and proceeded to get mad, or at least annoyed. It was SO perfect when they stayed elsewhere, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it was just too good to be true.

I called my MIL yesterday and informed her that she would NOT be buying us an air mattress, that we would move the crib out of the baby's room and into our room and they could stay on the hide-a-bed they have grown accustomed to. I then told her that I was not pleased with her little, "We'll just sleep in the basement," business, because she knows that if we made them do that, I would look bad when she reported back to all of her friends. (Yeah, I'm not keeping quiet about this crap anymore.) Of course she denys this and actually stated, "Oh, it wouldn't be too cold, we'll just cuddle." Yuck.

End result: They will be staying with us in our cramped house for 5 nights (and 5 mornings, which is the part that I really can't stand) and the dream of them always staying at a hotel when visiting, I think, is gone forever.

The silver lining is that I know my SIL has it worse. That being said, I do NOT wish for her to have to deal with MIL when the baby is born. I'm not a monster. I am hoping that the little guy will be a late-comer forcing the in-laws to drive the long trip home from BIL/SIL's house and come back to meet the baby at a socially acceptable time. I get to meet him in March, and I can't wait!