This is bothing me a bit so I thought I would post it & see if its just me or I should be a bit peeved.

Today I got a present from the inlaws for the baby. It was 2 little outfits from K-mart, basically 2 romper suits & a "congratulations on the birth of" card. Now don't get me wrong I do appreciate the gift. But I would have thought we would get soemthing more. I even said to DH that I feel like I am being selfish & greedy as I don't think a lot of effort was put into the gift. To me it was something I would expect from my boss, or a friend. Not from the grandparents of the baby. When we had Evan (1st grandchild for them) MIL sent down hand knitted outfits etc & I am sure money also. They also came down & stayed with us at the time of the birth. Now I am happy that they did not come down for Glenns Birth or for this one as that was quite the strain on me having them here after I had Evan. But anyway, I am sure that with Glenn they sent down something more significant then 2 romper suits.
I said to DH its kinda feels like 3rd time round, its not that big a deal to them anymore. But shouldn't they be just as excited about the 3rd grandchild as they were for the 1st?
Also, I have emailed them photo's of my growing belly & also just recently the photos from Evans preschool photo's. But I didn't even get a reply to acknowladge that they got them, appreciated them.

Its funny I have always thought that DH's parents where more the "grandparent"type over my own mother because my mum still works full time & is still very much in her own world. But in recent times She has proved to be the more dotting grandmother. Even after talking to my SIL who also has 2 kids & lives near (ish) to the Parents, she has also said that they just don't seem to really want to be that involved with there grandkids lives. I have to be fair & point out that they do look after foster kids & it is understandable that they can't be available 24/7 at teh drop of a hat. But apprently when SIL was sick recently & she asked if MIL could come over to help look after the kids, her reply was "we have our own life too you know". I was shocked that she would have this attidute with her own daughter & especially when she was sick & was asking for help. It seems to me that they are happy to play "grandma & grandad" as long as it takes place in their own home, they don't seem to want to go out of their way to help out.
It has seriously made me rethink the idea of it being a positive thing to be closer to DH's family then to mine. DH is from Nth QLD & I have said that as long as he had a good well paying job to go to, I wouldn't put up to much of a fight to move back up there, because of the benifits of being closer to his family. But after hearing about my SIL's recent issues with them I don't know anymore. It is unlikely that we will ever move back up there as there is just too much for DH work wise down here.
The other thing with the foster kids, is they said about 2 or even 3 years ago that they were not going to do it anymore. But they have continued to take on these kids. The problem here is that FIL isn't really that interested in having an active "parenting" role for these kids & MIL is too soft to lay down real rules in regards to the younger grandkids when visiting. Apprently they currently have a set of 7 yr old twins & while my SIL was staying with them (when she was sick, she was discharged from hospital early because they needed the bed & her DH works in the mines so isn't at home to help) she had to watch these kids like a hawk because they would be really nasty to her DD who is only 3, things like kicking her under the table or screaming at her to go away etc. But apprently MIL wouldn't say anything to them about it because she didn't "see it" happen. So they wouldn't listen to SIL but MIL didn't step in about it either. It sounds terrible but I would want my kids to come first.

Ok I am ranting a bit here now, But basically is it selfish of me to expect them to show a bit more interest in the grandkids? The do live 3000ks away but gees, reply to an email here & there. DH thinks I am the one that is nasty to them, but really!? I emailed them pictures of my bump to try & include them to some degree & don't even get a reply. I feel like they have just fobbed us off to the "birthday & christmas" only pile.