The Play's the Thing. Yuck.

A friend’s phone call a few weeks ago left me intrigued about a play at a regional theater not far from where I live. “It has something to do with a sister and a brother, and a mother and a son. I thought you might be interested because of your book.” I agreed, and dragging our better halves with us, we went to the show. Two days later, I am still creeped out.

The play, called Jen and John, opens with a girl and her little brother who is six years younger. We watch them age – which since the cast included just two actors playing the roles, it was more like a voice change – and she continues to protect him, especially from their abusive dad. She then goes off to college and becomes a hippie. He enlists in the military and gets sent to Vietnam. And – spoiler alert – he dies.

I was okay with the first act. And admittedly, the actors were very good. I was even touched a bit here and there thinking of my own kids – my daughter is older by four years and is very protective of her younger brother. But then we came back from intermission.

Now the woman is grown and married – though apparently divorced – has a baby who is named after her brother, of course. She tells him he looks like his dead uncle and promises to dress him in his clothes. (I couldn’t make this up.) Then the baby (played by the same adult actor from Scene One) grows up, learns that his mother had been hiding his acceptance to an Ivy League college for two weeks (What mother does that?) and then angrily storms out of the house and rushes to tell his girlfriend the good news. Oh yeh, Mom doesn’t like the girlfriend.

So why does Mom conceal the fact that her son has gotten into college? She doesn’t want him to leave. In fact, she makes it very clear to him that she would like him to remain at home, forever, apparently. Despite his testy reaction to her request, he ultimately has an epiphany. You know, Mom has been so good to him, maybe he should just stay home. He decides to call the college and tell them he’s not coming, he would rather throw away an opportunity of a lifetime to stay at home with his mom.

How are you feeling now? Like me?

One more thing, this was a musical.

Filed under: Relationships,Sisters,Sons
by Ellie Fisher
No Comments »
11
Oct
2010

English 101

I teach. I teach the dreaded English composition course all college freshman are required to take. I know that every semester I will face business majors, nursing students, art majors, computer programmers and a litany of other students whose course of study appears to have little need for writing.

I feel for them. I really do.

But then I ask them: If you can’t use proper grammar, put together a sentence with correct structure and syntax, use a vocabulary with words larger than the ones required for texting, will you impress a prospective employer? A professor? That cute girl or guy you meet in a bar? (Really, they get THIS). And G-d bless my students, they sit there and listen. I think they hear me. Either that, or they’re silently mocking me as still stuck in the dark ages. You know, the era of the now extinct Thank You Note.

Of course, I beg to differ. I’m a relationship expert and as such, I know that nothing will sink a relationship faster than a poor choice of words. If you tend to limit your vocabulary to four-letter words, (beyond l-o-v-e) well, that ought to do a lot for your marriage. If you shun any form of reading or writing or speaking intelligently because you’re happy to substitute all noise forms with guttural belching, especially when you’re in front of the TV, that will do wonders for your relationship, too. Guaranteed.

Conversely, the man or woman who writes or speaks meaningful, thoughtful and loving prose – especially if it accompanies a shiny object (men and women have different ideas about what a shiny object ought to be) – will earn enough brownie points to sustain his or her relationship at least through a month’s worth of dirty laundry and snoring.

Most likely if you’re reading my blog, you’re not one of my students. (If you are, don’t forget the reading assignment for Friday.) But I hope you, too, will keep on writing. Especially as well-written newspapers continue their vanishing act, and fewer literary works are published by publishers.

In fact, anytime you feel like talking, drop me a line. Or two.

Filed under: Daughters-in-Law,Grandparents,Mothers-in-Law,Relationships,Single Fathers,Single Mothers,Sons
by Ellie Fisher
No Comments »
30
Aug
2010

In the Heat of the Wedding

Our car’s outside temperature had registered 106 on Saturday as we climbed out to go to an outdoor wedding ceremony in Virginia. I’m sure I’ve been hotter in my life; I just can’t remember when. As the wedding guests squirmed in their seats in search of a whiff of a breeze, the bride entered the patio. Ebullient and radiant, her smile infected us all. What heat?

Besides the unseemly temperatures, this was a memorable wedding for another reason. It involved three mothers: the bride’s, the groom’s, and the groom’s stepmother. A recipe for in-law disaster. Yet it wasn’t. And to this I not only credit the bride, who showered all three moms with attention and appreciation, but the groom’s mom as well. (Okay, full disclosure: I’m a friend of the groom’s mom.)

Seriously, a lot could have gone awry. The children’s two mothers were as different as…well, you decide. One is a native New Yorker, the other a Midwesterner. The ceremony included a pastor who wore a robe embroidered with a gold cross and a tallis (a Jewish prayer shawl) draped over his shoulders. A unity candle was lit. A glass was broken. A marriage forged.

And during the reception, everyone danced. Naturally, the bride and groom. But the three moms as well. The differences between the families of the bride and the groom were celebrated rather than judged. The inclusion of the groom’s step mom was welcomed, rather than merely tolerated.

When we all raised a glass to toast the young couple (great toasts, by the way, by the bride’s sister and groom’s brother!) I actually was thinking at the time: Way to go, moms. You’ve set an example for the young couple as well as for all of us.

It’s not about us moms, it’s about our kids.

Filed under: Daughters-in-Law,Mothers-in-Law,Relationships,Single Mothers,Sisters,Sisters-in-Law,Sons,Step Parents
by Ellie Fisher
2 Comments »
27
Jul
2010

Bristol and Levi. Oh My.

I know all you mothers-in-law out there are wondering how is Levi Johnston going to make amends with a future mother-in-law he has publicly trashed and challenged. In esteemed Vanity Fair no less! Not to mention that up until this point he has shown himself to be irresponsible and unmotivated. (Oh wait, he did do that spread in Playgirl).

And now, at least according to US Weekly, he and Bristol have reconnected, are back in love, and are planning to wed. People Magazine, on the other hand, just has them getting along – no marriage plans and no engagement. Regardless of whether there is a wedding in their future, or just a renewed friendship, they DO share custody of a baby. And all of this means Levi and Sarah Palin may likely run into each other at the next family get-together. Boy, would I like to be a fly on the coleslaw at that Labor Day picnic.

So far we’ve heard from Levi who has apologized to his once (and again) future mother-in-law in a July 6 statement that read something like this, “Please accept my regrets and forgive my youthful indiscretion. I hope one day to restore your trust.”

Hmmm. What do you think? Will this happen? We still haven’t heard from the mother-in-law to be. When we do, will she be magnanimous, and forgiving or will she be unmoved by his emotional appeal? Remember, this is politics. OF COURSE, she’ll forgive him.

This on-again, off-again relationship, which has as much drama as a Lifetime yarn, will be spun into a “life lesson” of See what happens when you have unprotected sex, and It isn’t so easy living on your own and supporting a child. Is it?! (Apparently, the young couple will have to forge their way like most other young couples because, again according to People, Mom isn’t sharing the $10 million she earned from FOX and her book.)

So then maybe we can actually relate. I wonder if your son or daughter’s significant other treated them poorly and then maligned you, would you forgive him or her? Politics aside.

Filed under: Daughters-in-Law,Mothers-in-Law,Relationships,Sisters-in-Law,Sons
by Ellie Fisher
No Comments »
18
Jul
2010

Four on the Fourth!

I spent July Fourth weekend down the shore (sorry, can’t shake my Philly roots) with my two kids and their significant others. It could have been a disaster. After all, I know, I wrote the book. But it was wonderful.

If you’re the mom, it’s easy to take for granted that your son likes his sister’s boyfriend, and your daughter likes her brother’s girlfriend. But when this happens, take a deep breath, look heavenward, and thank your lucky stars.

When your sons and daughters don’t like their sibling’s girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband your family will never be quite the same. Holidays will feel a little more stressful, birthday dinners a little emptier, splitting family assets a little nastier. And frankly, based on the interviews I did for the book, and from the women I meet at book events, the sibling-in-law clash can be much more challenging than the mother/daughter-in-law issue. In fact, while many women have told me they like their mother-in-law or their daughter-in-law, when I throw the sister-in-law into the batter, I get a fair share of, “Oh, her.” Oftentimes followed by, “She’s a bitch.”

So is there something we can do to help facilitate a good relationship between the siblings-in law? Yes. Even the most seemingly impossible and improbable relationships can work. They just may require a grand effort.

If you’re the significant other and his sister ignores you or is just outright rude to you, rather than clam up and act bitchy, engage her. Her arrogance will be forced out into the open for all to see, and by all, I mean your boyfriend and his mom. Invite her to do something with you without the mom. When you’re caught in the mother-daughter mix, you will likely feel like a third wheel, so extract her from her mom. And DO NOT criticize her brother to her even if she eggs you on. Anything negative will be stored in the deepest recesses of her mind. She can criticize him. You can’t. At least not in front of her.

If you’re the sister and you really don’t like this girl, you have no choice but to act supportive of the relationship anyway. If your brother truly seems miserable, it’s okay to say with soft, sisterly concern, “Are you okay? You haven’t seemed yourself?” He may think you’re referring to his job. But if he is having any doubts about his relationship, you’ve given him permission to make a change and you haven’t even mentioned her name!

On the other hand, if you don’t like the other woman but your brother seems happy, learn to figure out what he sees in her. And then spend one-on-one time with her, invite her to go for dinner or to a movie without your brother, and most definitely, without his mother.

It’s harder to get a mother-in-law to come around if her daughter doesn’t like you. Not so much the other way around. So work at first on creating a relationship with your sister-in-law (present or future).

And then I hope you, too, find yourself with happy four next Fourth.

Filed under: Daughters-in-Law,Mothers-in-Law,Relationships,Sisters,Sisters-in-Law,Sons
by Ellie Fisher
No Comments »
09
Jul
2010
« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

© 2011-2024 Ellie's Blog All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright