DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are celebrating our second anniversary, and for the most part, we’re very happy. He is the best friend I’ve ever had. The problem is his family. While they are wonderful and welcoming, they are extremely clingy and have little sense of personal boundaries.
We recently moved to a bigger home that’s closer to them but farther from my family. Since moving, they have been constantly dropping by unannounced at inconvenient times—like when I’m plating dinner.
We’ve told his mother many times that we value our privacy and don’t like frequent company, but she keeps ignoring us. She even tries to plan parties at our house and talks about installing a pool, despite our repeated refusals. And if one family member shows up, you can almost guarantee two or three more will follow.
When my family came to see our new home, they were barely there five minutes before his entire extended family—cousins, aunts, everyone—arrived and completely took over. My family barely got a chance to visit or see the house because it became so chaotic.
Please help.
— LOSING IT IN ALABAMA