Family reunions

There are 5 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 207 times. The latest Post (April 15, 2026 at 3:38 PM) was by serafina.

    Since late February we've had half a dozen family reunions, be they asados, empanadas and more recently, farewell to the lad travelling abroad for several months. This, hot on the heels of Christmas and a birthday gathering at our place just before that. And last Sunday they all came over for Easter because yesterday we went to the in-laws for another birthday. Don't get me wrong, they are lovely people, but I'm either not the socially gregarious type or it's just all too much in such a small space of time.

    And the conversations are typically similar, many starting with "In a normal country..." After a couple of hours, for me anyway, it's just a noise and you need to shout to get yourself heard. I even put my hand up sometimes so that they can see that I wan to say something, but am often interrupted mid sentence by someone talking loudly to someone else entirely. It's infuriating.

    I've had quite enough for the foreseeable future...

    :shoot-me:

    Fortunately the missus doesn't have any close family so no gatherings. She has a cousin in La Pampa who along with his wife stopped in the passing a year or two ago. We invited them to have an asado with us. Nice couple.

    I made a quiet exit from the 20 people asado at around 15.45, not waiting for the dessert because I could see where it was going and decided to go home and enjoy a nice quiet bicycle ride. Naturally, my wife stayed because it was her mother's 90th birthday and I'm sure they think I'm a bit odd.

    Anyway, my wife didn't get back home until around 10 pm, which proves my point. She was knackered.

    I used to use the dogs as an excuse to slip away from the MIL's birthday bashes. Never a problem as her fellow oldies were half gaga anyway. Most didn't even know who I was. As the years went by they all disappeared so it ended up just us and her going to eat out.

    Mrs GJs family is fairly big and the family reunions tend to be about 40-50 strong.

    Christmas, New Year , Easter , Mothers Day and Fathers day are the main events.

    But given that we are now at least an hour away from the big party , we tend to make a swerve every second event. The hour going is not too bad but coming back is real pain.

    Deciding on the designated driver is also a major problem in our hosue.