You know, in the end Boxing Day wasn't so bad.
Sis & (now slightly more dysfunctional) family came - although we weren't sure if they were coming until 10.00 on said day.
And played happy family apart from a couple of tense stand offs due to ill-phrased remarks and a hissed convo between sis and Mum which kept everyone out of the kitchen for about 15 minutes.
So there was tension, which does upset me more than it should. But no outright rows at least.
And I finally realised how unattractive cheating and lies are. I was always indulged by my friends. When I was >15 I was very small, physically. I was babied a bit, despite my sharp edges. I used to cheat blatantly at things like cards and other games with a wide-eyed "I didn't understand the rules!" expression. When I was <16 I had big knockers. So cheating at things like pool and crazy golf were completely acceptable, because no-one was looking at your score card.
But my niece cheated at the general knowledge game we were playing. Mum and I were on her team and dissauded her as much as possible. But she also lied. Example, saying she had had the right answer but that I had made her cross it out. WHA??!! It was a number based quiz. Might as well enter my Dad in a spelling bee. I would never "make" someone amend an answer. I only know my PIN number because I use rhyming words for it and can visualise a story. Example if my number was 2095 - which it is not! - it would be shoe, oh, vine, hive - a clown (big shoe), falling down a hole (OH!), climbing up a vine, only to find a beehive at the top, running around being stung. It really isn't as complicated as it sounds, because the visual image works. Seriously - I only have two cards (one a cashpoint/ ATM only and one a pre-pay credit card. I still use a story for each of them...
So, GRRR. We won, but I didn't value the win
Glad they brought the game though (it was a simple card game and I applaud it even though it hit my weakest subject).
Even better, my BIL started a lively game of the Minister's Cat, which engaged all of us without any sniping, and no point scoring. Yay for parlour games!
And anyway, my bro was there and we exchanged a couple of sly/ in jokes and had some fun. Mum's been pretty tetchy since yeaterday, but she does have an examination on Weds, so she might be gearing up for it. I've come up tonight to escape from her. I'll go out walking tomorrow (as I did today) and hope the mood passes.
This time next year... One way or another I will just be a visitor in this house.