I will be spending 3 days and 2 nights with 9 very TBM female relatives and I'm the only apostate or unbeliever who is going. I am super excited to be with these ladies and spend some quality time with them, but I'm afraid the conversations will go something like...

Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck Glen Beck food storage my new calling my new calling my new calling my new calling my new calling my new calling conference Glen Beck in church last sunday in church last sunday in church last sunday in church last sunday in church last sunday conference we are in the last days we are in the last days we are in the last days we are in the last days buy gold buy gold buy gold Glen Beck Fox News Fox News Fox News we are in the last days we are in the last days we are in the last days food storage food storage Pres Monson..............Glen Beck

I hope I'm worried for nothing.

Wish me luck! 3 days with 9 Mormons and no cappuccino's.

I know the feeling. Last weekend I was with several family members, and they kept talking about what they were going to do in the Celestial kingdom. I just kept my mouth shut or changed the subject. If they are sensitive at all (not a huge TBM quality, I know), they will notice they are leaving you out and knock it off.

Good luck.

Now, why exactly are you submitting yourself to such atrocities?

full of shopping, eating out and testimonies. ;) Seriously though, I hope I'm over reacting.

Sounds scary! If they do bring up the last days you should throw out that they should be okay for a while because the Profit wouldn't spend millions of dollars on a mall if it were almost the end. Innocent enough. It would be interesting to know how they react!

And you shouldn't have to go without a cappuccino, that's just not right.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,48040,48040#msg-48040

that was the first and last time I will ever do that in front of mom again. I guess I should have been more respectful, and she shouldn't have ruined that day. I won't ruin a weekend thats supposed to be fun by upsetting mom over a drink....

Last year the inlaws came (cross country) to visit and offered to buy us lunch. I had a cup of decaf with my pie and they refused to pay for the meal. It wasn't a spiteful beverage or an attempt to get them to subsidize evil hot drinks. I drink coffee a lot. So what?

But I am aware of the reaction to coffee. Sneak away and down a shot of espresso here and there. :)

Rewarding your mother's poor behavior by avoiding something you like is an invitation for her to act out again in the future. Maybe you can send her an email or something in advance along the lines of:

Just so you know, Mom, I still like my coffee and I'm going to drink it. Please be kind enough to practice the 11th Article of Faith and allow me to worship in MY OWN WAY, which does not involve abstaining from coffee.

And then do what you want. It is your life and you can't let a temper tantrum by a grown woman dictate how you live it.

(That being said, I'm not going to be there so feel free to ignore my advice. I'm just offering it from the position of someone who tried for years to keep peace through sacrificing my own desires and it NEVER worked. Putting up my grown up boundaries did, though.)

:)

Wow! And I thought my TBM family was bad. My mom doesn't have a choice she knows that if she wants to be around me I just might have a cupper. I don't do it often.

But then again, I don't think I'd ever consume alcohol in front of her. So...yeah!

You will be glad it was only 3 days.

Best of luck to you.

Definitely report back, I'm curious to know what happens!

I hear the same shit myself when I am around TBM's in my family.

You know what I would like to hear though? "hey brother, I want to help you get a job since you are highly educated and worthy to hold one. Not to mention you have been out of work for a year and I learned in my elders qurom on sunday that charity starts at home first and that its the pure love of christ".

This would be music to my ears, even JC would smile on this act of love regardless of fact or fiction. Instead, I am a misfit because I don't have a job and I can't be trusted because I don't have a job, and then they are so wrapped up in their church and work that they don't have time to talk to me about it.

Are you FUCK'IN kidding me?! Mormons ain't got a clue about true love. Especially not in my selfish family.

So sorry you have such an awful family. Jobs are hard to come by and it is only family that can keep you sane at times. I am helping my daughter with this right now. She is out of work. I keep her spirits up as best I can. Your family should be doing the same. But no....they thrive on judging you and putting you down. It is them that need sense knocked into their brainwashed heads.

Can't wait for a full return and report!

Try and laugh... a lot.

I want a full report from you too missy!

You forgot "The Constitution is hanging by a thread"!

The summer after I left Mormonism, we spent a couple of days in Texas with some extremely TBM relatives, I didn't know how I'd survive. But then a break opened up and God blessed me with an opportunity to escape to the local Starbucks and bolt down a frappuccino. That was the summer I realized God loved ME and was concerned for my sanity in my post-Mormon life. LOL.

Don't give up on the idea of a cappuccino yet - God works in mysterious ways. :)

I can stand almost anybody for 2-3 days. Maybe even go without coffee for that long. Best of luck to you!

If necessary, I'd tell them you don't want to discuss sticky issues but would rather have a giggly good time with friends. Then be ready with some jokes and interesting diverting topics.

Have fun.

That was funny. Real funny.... But do not worry about the Fox News part. Out of all of them, it is the most sane and most fair. I know it has a more conservative slant, but heck the other stations are 90% liberal or more and I certainly can't stand most of what they stand for. It is hard to trust news in general. Very hard indeed.

honestone, I don't have a single nice thing to say about the other networks either, but you've got to be kidding using words like "sane" and "fair" in reference to Fox News. Not just the Glenn Beck fear-cast/Goldline hour, but the "news" people as well. Just watch as they put a (D) next to Mark Foley's name repeatedly (unfair and incredibly slanted) and mislabel both Iraq and Egypt on a map (insane, or just plain stupid).. their mistakes are endless and their talking points are usually red herrings/strawmen. It's honestly laughable.

Sorry. Cannot say it. Seems like politics is being started here. Never mind.

whoops, my apologies.

This is about protecting your sanity and setting limits in order to do so. You will need to choose your battles carefully.

Here's a possiblity: Buy an airhorn. Announce that you are placing a moratorium on Glenn Beck conversations and will blow your horn if he is mentioned within your hearing and proceed to do so. Or it may be the subject of callings. Just choose one thing. Be funny and charming and silly and maybe even invite each TBM to choose a 'taboo' subject. Call it a 'taboo' weeken and make it jokey (even though you are dead serious).

I am willing to bet they each have a pet peeve they'd like relief from.

You will have to put up with all the other nonsense, but at least you will be rid of one thing.

One of my sorority sisters did this at a reunion weekend a few years ago (she did not want to hear about Hilary Clinton) and it worked. Give it a spin and see what happens.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2011 09:03PM by nwmcare.