Conversation at 1 pm with my mother-in-law
HER: I am just really disappointed in how ungrateful he's being. He didn't even say thank you for taking him to Vinnie's. He didn't even say, "Thanks, Grandma, for walking up there in this heat." Nothing. And that's not the GMB I know at all. It makes me a little mad and a little sad.
ME: I have a lot of sympathy for what he's going through with all this two house/two city stuff, but there's really no excuse for being an ungrateful little brat.
HER: (stifling her overhwhelming need to say that he is a perfect angel child not a brat) You're right.
ME: If he is going to act like this, I really think (and I turned while driving to actually look her in the eye here) that you need to not buy him anything else or do any other nice things like that for a while. I mean, you should still see if he wants to go to museums and stuff with you, but don't do him any favors or buy him anything if he's not going to be grateful for it. I know you want him to be happy and you want to fix the bad mood, but it just reinforces that brat behavior.
HER: You are really right. (looking abashed and reformed) I really shouldn't do that. You're totally right.
Fast forward to 6 pm
Grandma and GMB stumble in from 4 hours of shopping and extensive very hot subway-riding (lots of trouble because of power shortages and outages) and two or three Armani/Armani Exchange stores in totally different parts of Manhattan. GMB is the EXTREMELY proud owner of an Armani tank top and an Armani Exchange t-shirt. He is now pleasant as punch.
Note: There is absolutely no likelihood that the next one will make it to adulthood without knowing about designer clothing. Even if I can reign Wes in, my sister lives in Brooklyn now.....
