Building Relationships With In-Laws

I know that it is very important to build relationships with In-laws because they become family too. You always hear that saying about when you marry that person, you marry their family. It's so true because yes you are marrying that person, but you are going to be a part of their family and spend a lot of time with them so it's important to accept them into your family just life you would want to be accepted and welcomed into theirs. I only have two in-laws right now and they are so great! I am about to be married so I will get to be an in-law to his family and he will get to be an in-law to my family. 

It can be hard to get along with in-laws sometimes because it's like you are almost getting another sibling that is married to your sibling and so you sometimes treat them like how you would treat your siblings. Sometimes it's hard to not got offended by what they say to you like if they tease you or sometimes they say something that can be hurtful. You have to get along with them even if it takes patience, effort, and forgiveness. I have one brother-in-law and one sister-in-law and they are both great! Sometimes we've hurt each other by saying something that we didn't think would be, but was, but we always find a way to forgive each other. 

It's fun to have a "new sibling" because then you get to show them what kind of memories and traditions you do in your family, and then you get to see the kind of traditions they do in their family. We can find ways to respect and love each other. In a talk called "Building Good In-Law Relationships" by Patricia Russell, she talks about what we can do to build good relationships with our in-laws and the blessings we can receive from doing so. She says, "In-laws can improve relationships by not allowing unhealthy stereotypes such as the interfering mother-in-law, the controlling father-in-law, the selfish daughter-in-law, or the insensitive son-in-law." I liked that Sister Russel said that because if we are not close with our siblings or with other family members, our in-laws can bring them closer together to have a better relationship with each other then they had before. She also mentions using the Golden Rule. You can use it to think of other's thoughts and feelings as you would want them to think of yours. It's important to be aware of of other's feelings because we don't want to hurt their feelings and we also want them to be aware of our feelings so that we don't get hurt either.  

Sister Russell ends by saying that Einstein's formula of relativity can be a formula for avoiding or resolving problems with in-laws. She says, "E=mc^2= Effectiveness of in-law relationships will depend on the quantity and quality of mutual caring that takes place. Multiply that mutual caring, and our effectiveness will increase too." I thought that this was fun to think of and works well with how we should treat our in-laws. I am grateful for the wonderful in-laws that I have and the great relationship they have with me and my family.