So my husband’s family came in from out of the country to “visit” for Christmas. By visit I mean shop and try to get their hands on my baby who just turned 9 months old yesterday.

I’m not against my baby being around family, and since she doesn’t really have much left these days, I try to encourage it. However, when my BIL and SIL come in, one of their kids is ALWAYS sick every time. In years past, this hasn’t really bothered me, but this is my first baby and her first Christmas, so I just wanted to keep her well.

Before I had my girl and became a SAHM, I was a nurse so I know that the simplest way of keeping illnesses from spreading is to WASH YOUR HANDS! However, my SIL has no respect for me which she proved by telling her children that they did NOT have to wash their hands before touching my baby. This is after both myself and my husband told the kids and everyone else that they MUST WASH THEIR HANDS before touching baby.

And as usual, one of their kids came down sick during the visit. This is after he’d already shoved his hands in her face every single chance he got. After one evening of fighting with them to keep him away from her, and to again request that they wash their hands since they were taking care of their sick son, I decided to just keep baby home and away from the sick child and the rest of her family. I was tired of being told that I was overreacting and that I needed to test her immune system. Excuse me for being a nurse and having some knowledge in the area, I didn’t know that your science teacher self was more educated on bacteria and viruses than I.

Then today, my MIL sends out a blast message to the rest of the family notifying us that when they got home from the US, they had their son tested and he has the flu. My baby has had her flu shots, but he might have a strain that’s not covered in the shots she had. Not to mention, vaccines aren’t 100% effective all the time, just like anything else.

Right now she isn’t showing any signs of illness, but I know that with babies it can change quickly.

I’m just so angry at their lack of respect for us. When their son was little I wasn’t allowed to touch him period because he was just so precious to them that only his parents and grandparents could hold him. So I respected their wishes. Well, my daughter is even more precious to me and so is her wellbeing. Next Christmas, they are not welcome back here.