Here is the thing...

I love my family. Like LOVE them to bits and pieces and think they are the best people in the whole wide world.  Don't get me wrong, they have their faults, but I really, really love them.

So that is why I get so damned pissed when people screw with them.  Like, seriously pissed the hell off.  Finn turned one on Saturday and not one.single.member of my husband's family even called to wish him a happy birthday.  Is calling expensive or hard?  Nope.  Oh, did I mention that not one.single.member of his family has SEEN the baby?!  Yep, not one.  So how do you think that makes my husband feel, that his mother, father and brothers have not seen his youngest child yet?  Yeah, makes him feel pretty crappy.  How do you think that makes my kids feel, that their grandparents and uncles have nothing to do with them?  Yep, pretty crappy. How does that make me feel....angry.

But see here is the thing....all those people are the ones who are missing out.  They don't get to know my amazing, smart, sweet, funny and kind kids.  They miss all the cute stories and all the accomplishments.  They will not be invited to graduations and weddings and they will have no place in the lives of these children when they grow into adults and go on to do amazing things with their lives.  See, you don't get to miss calling for first days of school, birthdays, dance recitals and award ceremonies and get included.  You don't get a place in their hearts when you don't care that they almost died from an allergic reaction, that they needed an MRI, are hospitalized or that they have been going through major genetic testing and scaring their parents out of their wits.  See, in the end, you lose.

WE are fine.  WE don't NEED you, heck, at this point, we don't WANT you.  See, we are stable and successful.  We pay our bills and do just fine. We educated ourselves, we worked hard, we built our lives around our kids and know we will be parents FOREVER, because it takes that kind of commitment.  We have a support system and we know that when OUR kids are grown, we will be in their lives and we will have a place in their hearts.  WE know that when we are old, our kids will take care of us.  WE know that we are doing a damn good job of raising good people, it is too bad YOU don't get to know how they turn out.