Redefining Family Traditions: How Not to Lose Your Friday Night Zen
Let me just say, darling readers, if you’ve ever felt your Zen slipping through your fingers thanks to family antics, you’re not alone. Gather around, because today’s tale of familial fiasco is ripped straight from the juicy underbelly of Reddit—yes, where real people spill real tea.
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Most Inconvenient of Times
Picture this: A charming couple, both 34, have established a Friday night tradition that’s practically a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. Armed with their 4-year-old, 6-year-old, and a new puppy, they become ‘regulars’ at an outdoor brewery—a sophisticated family sanctuary, if you will.
Life couldn’t be better. The kids are frolicking with their tiny buddies, the parents sip artisanal brews, and it’s almost like a date night—except, let’s be real, babysitters are unicorns and the grandparents aren’t about that life. The husband’s parents live three hours away, and the wife’s parental units live an hour away but are total homebodies who disdain both house visits and dogs. It’s been five long years since this stressed couple had an actual adults-only night out.
When Life Gives You Nieces and Nephews, Rethink Your Life Choices
Enter the grandparents who actually do step up—sort of. Every Friday, they host a sleepover for the whirling dervish that is the niece and nephew, ages 5 and 7. These little munchkins live just a hop, skip, and ten-minute jump from their grandparents’ abode. And there it is—our first family dynamic wrinkle. Our beleaguered parents notice that their own offspring are getting about as much grandparental love as your average houseplant. Naturally, the eldest starts questioning this notion of ‘fairness,’ with interrogations reaching FBI-levels of persistence.
Then, in one spectacular twist of fate, the grandparents decide it’s easier to babysit at the brewery. Because, why not? It’s essentially G-rated Thunderdome and daycare all rolled into one.
The Brewery: From Oasis to ‘Oh No, You Didn’t’
To say this brilliant idea tanks harder than New Coke would be an understatement. Firstly, Dad brings the kids there and proceeds to play the role of Mr. Grumpy Pants. He’s antisocial with the friendly brewery gang—one might say he practically repels them with his charm vacuum. Oh, did I mention he also hates dogs? This delightful little quirk means he spends the evening throwing shade at every furball in sight.
But wait! There’s more. The niece turns into a tiny Napoleon, dividing and conquering the kid group like a preschool Game of Thrones character. The idyllic harmony shatters, with tears and drama rivaling a Bravo reality show reunion. Our poor parents are left refereeing this pint-sized anarchy.
The Glimmer of Hope, Then the Text that Sank It
Just when our protagonists enjoy a rare, peaceful Friday without the interlopers, a plot twist: Dad texts saying they’ll be crashing the brewery again this week. Cue the internal facepalm. Talk about raining on their parade, complete with lightning and gale-force winds.
WIBTA? The Moral Dilemma
Our harried parents are now torn. Should they finally tell Dad that his brewery invasion is ruining their treasured ‘date night’? Or do they keep silent, thereby slowly smoldering in their own resentment?
Roger’s Take: Time to Speak Up and Sashay Away
Alright, darlings, now for Roger’s hot take. Our couple would not be the A-hole if they set some boundaries. Listen, darling, self-care isn’t selfish. It’s essential. Date nights for parents are the glue holding fragile sanity together. If Grandpa is making this ungluing process easier, it’s time for a heart-to-heart chat. Keep it spicy but not incendiary—like a well-seasoned argument.
Explain to ol’ Grumpy Bravo that his presence, and more importantly, his disapproving glares and chaotic grandkids, are hindering the family’s sacred brewery ritual. Offer some other alternatives: how about a zoo day or a family brunch? There’s a time and place for everything, but your Friday night haven ain’t it.
Remember, boundaries are your best friend. They keep the Zen intact and make sure your wine glass stays full—not because you need it to cope, but because you genuinely enjoy it. So, go forth, and reclaim your Friday nights with the sass and class they deserve.
Original story
Every Friday night my husband and I (both 34) and our kids (4&6) go to an outdoor brewery as our family tradition. We’ve been doing this for about a year and a half now and are considered “regulars”, we also bring our new puppy with us now.
My kids have a solid group of friends that they run around and play with, and it’s awesome for my husband and I because it’s the closest thing we can ever get to a date night. His parents (both in their 60’s) live over 3hrs away and mine (both in their 50’s) are an hour away but hate to leave their house, and also don’t like dogs, so they don’t baby sit for us either.
It’s been almost 5 years since we’ve had a night out together.
Also on Friday nights my parents have my niece and nephew over to their house for a sleep over, they are 5 & 7. My sister and her kids only live about 10 minutes from my parents so they spend a lot of time together.
But my parents rarely call, visit, or even inquire about our kids. My oldest has started to ask a lot of questions about the difference in relationships.
Anyways recently my Dad has been bringing my niece and nephew up to the brewery on Friday nights because it’s “easier” for him than having to entertain them at his house. At first I was upset by this because never once has he met us there to spend time with us or our kids, and I felt like he was just passing the babysitting off to my husband and myself on our “date night”, but I said sure why not since it’s a public place and not right to tell someone else not to go there.
Having them there ended up putting a huge damper on our night. My dad is not super social, and was kind of stand offish to our normal group of regulars we tend to socialize with.
He also doesn’t like dogs and kept making comments about the dogs being there. In addition to that, having my niece and nephew there caused a lot of drama in the kid’s friend circle.
My niece is very bossy and instead of the kids being in one nice group like they usually are everyone was split up and divided, my kids both had moments of crying due to what my niece was doing, and I spent most of my time having to referee the group like I was worried about.
Last week they didn’t come and it was soooo much better. But my Dad just texted me they will be coming again this week and now I’m dreading it.
WIBTA if I told my Dad this is interfering with my family’s tradition and our attempt at a date night, and we’d rather they didn’t come?