Family Visits

[lillibet]

[Poll #1649411]

Comments

[shanghaibex.livejournal.com]

Because we live so far apart, the ideal visit with my mother would be about a week.

Unfortunately, because we live so far about, the minimum logistically viable visit is two weeks.

So, we visit for 2 weeks and at one or several points in the 2nd week she makes me nuts. I go in my room and cry, and then continue with the rest of the visit.

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

My parents are a quick plane ride away, so we never visit for as long as I'd like. Usually 4-5 days. I hate going down to FL and make that trip as long as I can stand. I don't know why my parents don't come here for more than 4-5 days. Commitments at home, I suppose.

When we visit the in-laws, we go for 2 1/2 weeks. Between visiting them and everyone else we want to see, it's a minimum. Plus the travel time and the fact that we only go every other year. When they come here, it's more like 4-5 days due to MIL's work stuff.

[desireearmfeldt]

My parents are local, so I see them regularly for short amounts of time (e.g. an evening) -- which I've always found works better than the "visit for a week once a year" thing might. I *do* spend a week on vacation with them each year too, and that's fine, but it's much less like "having a visit."

[ceo]

My parents live two towns away, so we see them for dinner once a month or so.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

My stepmother lives on the cape, and I go down there most Saturdays for part of the day. Usually with one of my brothers. We drive down, do some stuff around the house, have breakfast (or occasionally lunch), hang out, then head home.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Even when both were alive, the answer was radically different for each parent. Now I take that to mean in-laws, and it's still radically different. It also matters whether we're talking as guests in my house, or me as a guest in theirs, or them in town but staying elsewhere.

[minkrose]

My parents live very close (about 15 minutes away), but even when they were two hours away, we never had much trouble spending time with them. Andy & I have lived in their house for a couple days at a time when the hot water went out in our apartment.

I can't handle being around my mother when she feels she needs to "help" me do something, because she becomes protective (read: invasive/smothering). But she means well, it's just frustrating. IF we don't have a conflict about things like that, we can spend infinite amounts of time together.

I work for my dad (sometimes); we get along very well and never have issues. He's Mr Advice Guy, but very willing to let me make my own choices. No time limit needed with him either.

Plus, they both get on with Andy really well. We're very lucky.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

i love my parents dearly, but after about 3 days, i start to get a little batty at their houses...but they both live in the middle of nowhere, so there really is no escape, even for a little while, when we visit...just nonstop hanging out and a lot of tv. jon's parents live a lot closer <45 min. drive, and we see them pretty often, so 8 hrs. seems to be my limit there.

[bookly.livejournal.com]

My parents haven't been up here, except for my graduation. I usually visit my dad and stepmother for about two days, spread over three (morning travel to their place, two days of visit, afternoon travel back to my mom's). It never seems like enough, but at the same time is just on the verge of too long.

Up until my grandfather died, and for a few years afterward, I usually spent 4 days to two weeks with him and my mom (going slightly crazy, but it didn't make sense to go for a shorter period), but now I can't even go in her house. I don't think I'll be visiting her again until I can afford to pay for a hotel and rental car as well as the outrageously expensive plane ticket.

[coraline]

like several other commenters, my parents are local (<10m) so i see them every month or so for an evening or a chunk of a weekend day... i thnk i would probably do ok with them for longer, but we'd have to pace it differently, and frankly i'm glad i don't have to.

eric's parents... well, it's a whole "going to atlanta and splitting ourselves among 3 houses, several sets of which don't get along well." eric wants to do this for more than a week, i usually join him for 4-5 days and find that a little longer than i'd like.

[kellyjmf.livejournal.com]

My parents are local so we see them every month or so. I remember when I was an early-20-something, 3 days was the max. Any longer and my father and I would revert to the teen years and it was no longer comforting and happy to be home.

A couple of years ago my mother joined me on a business trip to Atlanta and that was a huge amount of fun. We'd never done any travel together before other than as a family when I was little. We're hoping to travel again this spring, just for vacation. I can't wait!