Ask Amy: Granddad is tired of constant video calls
Dear Amy: My stepson and his wife and 3-year-old daughter live in Hawaii.
My wife and I are on the West Coast.
We visit them several times a year, and they visit over the Christmas holidays when they can.
The times we spend together are always warm and drama-free.
We're on good terms, and I adore them.
My one issue is our daughter-in-law. While sweet as she can be, she video calls every day, often more than once, to recite the minutiae of her day.
Honestly, it can be quite tedious.
Sure, it's good to see our toddler granddaughter, even when she's being difficult or disinterested, but these unscheduled video calls can run 10, 15, 20 minutes each, and too often happen during meals or when we're reading, watching television, or drifting off to sleep.
We have other children and grandchildren who we speak with about once a week. This amount of contact is delightful and reasonable.
I have gently mentioned the annoyance to my wife, who mostly agrees, but cannot bring herself to set a few boundaries for fear of hurting our daughter-in-law’s feelings.
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