Seriously

I'm in a really good mood right now (I haven't had any appendix-related pain yet all day, I'm baking some delicious oatmeal fudge bars, I'm blasting Jason Mraz, etc) so I figured this would be a good time to blog about something that makes me really angry. This way I'm at least attempting a semblance of subjectivity!!

Last night I was talking to J. and I asked him why he had been a little distant recently. I know, probably not the best question to avoid prying when your partner has indeed been distant, but hey, I figured he would either tell me or not. And tell me, he did. Apparently, his parents have been really "bitchy" recently (namely, his mother) and he hasn't been getting along super well with them. On top of this, a few of his sisters have been home from college recently, and they have also been (in his words) "bitchy". So he's been really stressed about this, and he's getting frustrated that he can't really do anything about their attitudes. When I asked him why he doesn't think he can do anything about their attitudes, he shocked me:

"They mock us when you're not around"

I think I was actually stunned when he said this so bluntly. See, I thought I was forming a really nice and close relationship with his parents; I talk to them whenever I see them and we joke and I've had dinner with them once... I accidently walked in on his dad in the bathroom for goodness sakes!! And I know that his sisters are also fond of me... At least, that's what they have told me and J. when I'm not there. So to hear that his parents and sisters didn't take us as seriously as I expected-- even went so far as to mock our relationship-- kind of hit me below the belt. 

I don't really know how to react, either. Obviously this has been going on for a little while, and I've been oblivious. How do I continue to act pleasant and ignorant when I know now that J.'s parents are two-faced? I thought the relationships I was forming were strong enough to leave things on the table, and didn't ever think they would say bad things about me and J. and my relationship, but now that they have, I don't know where I really stand or what I think. 

Last night in the midst of all this I told J. that the only things we can do are learn from the situation and ignore them, which I said is all this behavior deserves. And I still believe that. But one thing I still have to figure out is what to do now? 

Have you ever dated someone whose parents didn't take your relationship seriously, or talked about you behind your back? Did you pretend not to know and try to win them over, or confront them to let you know you felt uncomfortable and betrayed? Let me know!