xmas @ my gf's parents place is driving me insane!!!!

[zeroice]

I am going insane!!!! 

My gf's parents are nuts!!! They talk for their dogs, and thats all they do all day! pretend that the dogs and cats are talking!! And my gf doing it too! They are all like kids... please help... aahhhhh 

Their entire life is centered around their animals... They make "cute" "imitating" voices "for" the dogs.

Is this normal for people to behave like this? or am I just so detached from normal people???? Maybe I'm too absorbed into machines and engineering... I feel like I'm around of a bunch of NORMAL people

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Yeah.  Pretty much normal.  My wife does the same thing, although until this very moment it never occured to me to be shocked or annoyed about it.
Dogs are way smarter than you might think.  My one dog will stamp his feet to get my attention, then look at the thing he wants, IE the door, the food bowl, the kitchen faucet.  You can actually tell from their body language and the looks on their faces what they are thinking, and eventually you come to learn that different barks mean different things.  I know from three rooms away if my dogs are barking at a squirrell or a big, shady-looking dude bent on mischief.
Dogs have emotion, too.  Happy, sad, worried, jealous, and when you live with them as housemates for a decade or more, you really get in tune with that.  Every dog has a distinct personality, just like people do.  Just like children, the way you raise a dog determines a lot about how it will behave and view the world, but also like kids, there are aspects of a dog's personality that you will never control.
The way life went, my wife and I had dogs instead of kids.  So the fact is that our dogs ARE our kids.  That kind of thinking may not make sense to you, but you'd damn well better respect it, or you'll find yourself solo in a hurry.  Those people aren't about to change because you think they're weird.

[Court Jester]

my woman's family is the same way. and we pretty much hate eachother. so it works out great. they don't come to my house. i don't go to theirs. causes a wee bit of stress from time to time, but it work out 100% awesome. i love it. if her and i split up, i will make it a point to piss off the next chick's parents.
good luck though.

[zeroice]

it seems like the only entertaining thing to them is playing w/ the dogs....

i prepared all sorts of cool recipes and their ingredients to cook in celebration of this great holiday, I even went all out with fresh organic ingredients! and they just cook food from instant dehydrated/frozen packages?!? and tell me not to bother cooking!!! I told my girl to tell her parents that i dont eat pork, and now i find out we're eating ham for dinner! Christ, I'm vegetarian 5days a week, and pork is waaaaayyyy on the bottom of my list of suitable foods to eat. I went through the whole trouble of preparing and getting all my cooking gadgets packed up for use at her parents house since they dont have any... Btw, i'm a health and cooking freak. I always prepare food the hard old fashion way. And with true culinary skill and care.

And now they want me to play board games. Whats up w/ normal people and board games??? Board games are so stupid, you learn nothing from them. They want to play monopoly and a few other games. These guys seem entertained by the most simple things. They dont think much about what they eat and the consequenses. Ackh... sorry for my rant.

[KBOlsen]

Dude, don't sweat the little stuff.  Be grateful that you have a girlfriend who thinks enough of you to want to include you with her family activities.  It's only one freakin' holiday.  Suck it up.  Nobody says you HAVE to put the ham on your plate.  Maybe next year you should invite THEM over to YOUR house. 

As for pets... shit, I have yet to meet a human who is willing to give so much love unconditionally while asking for so little in return.  They don't lie to you... they don't cheat on you... they don't have ulterior motives.  All they do is give love.  I had to euthanize one of my "kids" at 5:00 a.m. on December 23rd.  I'd give anything to be able to sit around engaging him in "baby talk" right now.

[Court Jester]

...Btw, i'm a health and cooking freak. I always prepare food the hard old fashion way. And with true culinary skill and care.

no kidding??? i say dump her sorry butt...

btw... what are you doing next weekend???

[Super Dave]

I like to talk to the dog about things irrelevant.  Either way, it serves to get him excited or to scold him.

And try teaching their dog to "sit" with a new word.  Our dog will shake hands with me using the command "counter top".   

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Sorry Kim.    I keep telling you that dogs last longer.

Oh.  The pets weren't enough.  Now it's about the BOARD GAMES?  Dude, you need a personality transplant.  Yeah, normal people play board games too.  And never games where a smart player can decisively crush his opponents, like Risk, Stratego, or Chess.  No, it's Rummycube, or Kanasta, or Sorry.  Something stupid where brains and a drive to win aren't as important as dumb luck.
Yeah, in real life this happens.  I just came upstairs from a few hours of bored (intentional mis-spell) games.  These are the sacrifices you must make to have a life outside the paddock.  GET USED TO IT!
I hope you're just using this thread to vent the things you aren't saying to your girl or her folks.  Because if you're actually complaining to her about the fact that she and her family are 99%ers....  Um, YOU be the odd man out, and pretty soon you be   all by yourself.
Tough as it may be, ya gotta bite the bullit and deal with civillians if you don't want to be alone all your life.  That, or find a racer girl from a racer family.  And even THEN there'll be board games and pets....

[Super Dave]

 

[zeroice]

Ok, i'm a jerk.
the dogs are super cute and super bad so i guess that evens out.
And dinner wasn't so bad. At least I got to break out the spring mix salad so that they shared in something healthy.
Folks are very warm and loving. Even my odd speaking personality is warmly welcomed without suspision or question.
I'm just going through shock; as in being in a totaly different and new enviroment. Am I over reacting?
i just gotta suck it up and get used to it I guess. Otherwise I'll be in the solo seat and alone wont be fun.
I appreciate the input folks!

[spyderchick]

zeroice, you can make my holiday dinner next year, and then we'll trade off from year to year.

We had: Organic tenderloin, baked potato & spinach salad. I also cook from scratch, and eat veggie most days.


Us hippies need to stick together.  And yeah, I love my pets to death, but we do not talk for them in little animated kitty and doggie voices. Although it is fun to get the cat nipped up and watch him play.

Training humans to behave is an impossible task. Next time bring over your Faster DVD. 

[zeroice]

Ya know spiderchick, i thougtht about bringing my faster DVD but it was stolen from my house this past summer when i still lived at college (pgh). My playstation got stolen and it was in it! Guess i gotta get a new one.

You're right, us hippies need to stick together! And there is nothing like making your meal from scratch, its the best satisfaction, right up there with racing and sex!

You up for trading recipes? I got some killer recipes that are very fresh and tasty for vegitarians as well as other fresh and delicate recipes for omnivores!