I am an only child and was so excited to have a sister in law. But she doesnt like me - and I dont know why. She refused to be my bridesmaid, didnt go out to my bachellorette (sp?) party, and when she was in town (she lives in another country) she knew I planned her visit so that I would have NOTHING to do for 4 days and she didnt hang out with me, when I vistied my in-laws for the first time it took her 6 days to come over to meet me (and she lived a few blocks away), and other reasons i suspect this.... My husband says its not that she doesnt like me, its just that she has an "unfriendly mentality." Anyway, how do I fix this? I am flying overseas for 10 days for her wedding soon.
?2008-08-29T10:30:33Z
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I'd take what your husband says to be true, since he knows her better than most would. She may simply be someone who isn't comfortable socializing and is thus awkward (distant) with people she doesn't know. Like mnduke said, stop trying so hard, not everyone has close relationships with their in-laws (for various reasons). The likelihood you'd have that type of relationship is small since she lives in another country anyway. Just be nice and try to get to know her a bit without making it your mission. Make yourself available to her during her wedding for last minute needs/help and I'm sure it will ingratiate you to her and make her more comfortable around you. Good luck and enjoy.
It sounds like you are trying very hard but she isnt. Maybe there is no fixing to figure out. You may want to chalk it up to a relationship that wont be close. I know it sucks because you want to be close but not all people are that way. Dont try so hard for her acceptance or affection. Some people cant handle that and get pushed further. If you are going to mesh, it will have to happen at her rate and if she is wanting that. She may need her own space and you should give it to her. And if she ever does come around, give her what you wanted from her. Open arms. =) DOnt be bitter and dont get upset with her current behavior. Just sounds like your wants are not the same at this time. Use the time you have away at her wedding as quality time with your husband. If she wants you to be apart of things, she will invite you. Dont expect it and be pleasantly surprised if she does.
Be friendly and courteous and feel good about yourself for trying. It is not you that has an issue here, it is your sister-in-law. You can do nothing about this except hope in time she will get to realize that you are a very nice person and she is missing out by not letting you into her life. It is unfortunate that you cannot have a close relationship with her since you are an only child. Spend your time with other close family and friends and hopefully in time your sister in law will see the light.
if she thinks it has something to do with her being iranian and the whole family not being able to understand i will hazard a guess and i could be wrong. Does her family hate Iran, did they flee after the revolution in 1979? I've met cubans who hate castro and cuba because thier grandfather left there. So while they are iranians they may very well have been westernized and hate Iran themselves. she could be the odd one out. maybe she has many iranian or muslim friends, where she got it from not from the familys ideals. that being said do you hate iran, do you disagree with them? sure you like iranian people just not what they're doing in thier own country as if you imagine them to all be slaves of ahmenijead. i assure you there are conservative iranians who agree with iran and the ayatollah and they go along willingly. So are you like the cuban who left cuba and has nothing but bad things to say about it now? If you go around and find expatriated americans living god knows where, chances are they got nothing nice to say about america or george bush. It's the only thing i can think of and i'm not iranian. long story short, do you and the rest of the family dislike ahmenijead, do you support revolution in Iran. you think they should rise up and turn iran into a western style country. sure you like to meet people but do you respect thier culture or do you want to change thier culture in some misguided effort to help them?
I have to be honest with you. On the one hand I want you to tell her to kick rocks. She doesn't seem very friendly and its unfortunate since you want to be. Are you going with your husband to her wedding? I wouldn't go if I could help it. People have to demand a certain level of respect. She is obviously demanding that people back off and leave her alone. If she doesn't want to be polite to you than let her keep doing it. Don't go out of your way to do anything for her. She has the chip on her shoulder. Friendships and relationships are two ways and if she can't reciprocate than you need to continue to be your polite self and just don't do anything special for her.