| To a relative: "I know that in your heart-of-hearts you believe my wife and I are incompetent parents, as are all of your siblings, and our children as well as the chilidren of your siblings are just waiting for their parents' incompetence to be exposed so that you can step in and rescue them, but please don't keep telling us about what good parents anyone who is not related to you are. The children of your siblings are in college, graduate school and medical school and we don't want to make them insecure. And No! I will not carry that bulky graduation gift across a large field at commencement to the child of someone you know only socially when you could drop it off at his house. I don't want to carry it. He doesn't want to cart it around. I know you want him to remember you, but this is not the way to do it. Praise your relatives and quit trying to buy the favor of outsiders." |