As I said, the girls and I went to her Dads and Stepmoms for dinner. They have 3 kids that are similar in age to my daughters so it's an interesting dynamic.
In the past, W would say "Groan, I wish we didn't have to go and put up with them. They judge me, they are arrogant, etc, etc, etc."
We'd go, and W would drink wine and be weird and uncomfortable. I'd feel like I'm on the spot with these 'jerks' even though my interactions with them were nothing like the picture she would paint. The kids would be on the 'negativity bandwagon' and when we left we'd find stuff to trash talk about them.
Tonight we had a very pleasant night, no tension really and all that was 'negative' was that I felt kind of sad all night.
After we left, D17 said she had a very pleasant visit and had connected with her 'aunt' who is 9 months younger than her. D13 spent some time hanging with their S11 and playing Warcraft.
But what was more interesting was that I didn't feel uncomfortable, like the didn't like me / us.
Why?
Because there was no pre-game talk about 'oh god we have to go over to my Dads again'. There was no 'post game talk about 'how much it sucked and I'm sorry you had to go through this'
There was just acceptance and friendliness.
I called W's stepmom after we got home and let her know that the girls both enjoyed the time there. Stepmom was very thankful for me telling her this, and went on to say how her D17 and my D18 spent a lot of time talking and hanging out which they have never done before.
She also went on to tell me that W has been calling her dad often in the past couple weeks, trying to reconnect with him. Says that W is not happy with her life.
