Frustration!

So, my mother-in-law is a wonderful person and I love her to bits.  But like everyone, she has a few quirks that can be a little frustrating at times.  She can be a touch self-involved, which often results in her not listening or immediately forgetting something you've told her.  This has been the case with my chronic pain.  We've talked numerous times about what is going on and she never seems to really pay attention and then asks questions later that I of course graciously answer but in the back of my mind I'm saying: "If you'd just pay attention in the first place you'd already know that!".  So she never really seems to 'get' what's going on or how I'm feeling.

I talked it over with the hubster, and in the course of that conversation I came to the conclusion that maybe I'm just not as open about my illnesses as I need to be.  Maybe it's not that she's not paying attention but maybe I'm not really being clear enough.  So yesterday, she called to see how I was doing (the hubster is out of town this weekend) and I told her that I was really quite sore and per usual she asked what I had done to hurt myself.  Now, of course part of the reason I'm hurting is because I overdid it the other night with my workout, but that wasn't the whole picture and I explained that.  I could practically hear her eyes glazing over on the other end of the phone as I described what was going on.  So we ended the call and I went on with my day.

Then today she and my father-in-law came over for a visit and I thought I'd take another stab at it.  Again, the glazing over of the eyes only this time I could see it.  She kept interjecting and interrupting and changing the subject until I eventually gave up.

So we're back where we started.  I was hoping that if I shared a little more about my condition maybe she would 'get' it and that would be helpful to both of us but apparently she wasn't interested in hearing it.  I do have people in my life that get it - primarily my mom and my aunt who both have fibromyalgia as well as other issues - and I guess for now that will have to be good enough.  I suppose it would be a bit foolish to expect everyone to be as supportive as I need them to be - and maybe a bit selfish.

I bought brand new bright red linens for our master bathroom today, and that felt really good.  Most of our towels and facecloths are either hand-me-downs or stuff we've had since before we were married so it's nice to have something fresh and new and colourful in that space.