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Talking with DH last night, I learned that my experience might have been somewhat unusual but I could use a few more data points.
I had a number of aunts and uncles within a 10 mile radius from us, and another aunt and uncle about 60 miles away. I was telling DH how my mother would drop me off at one or another of these relatives, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a week or more. (Obviously this was when school was out.) He told me that the longest he spent at a relative's house might have been an hour. He was never left there overnight.
Likewise, my cousins were only at the house for day visits. And not very often at that.
I stayed with my Grandparents for 3 weeks when I had the chicken pox. My Mother worked and could not take off and my Grandparents worked but Grandpa worked days and Grandma worked midnights so one of them was always there with me.
When my family still lived in northern Arizona, my dad's parents were in the same town, and I remember staying the night with them a few times as a child. (as I got older, I still spent a lot of time over there, but it was mostly just visiting during the day)
Moved to Phoenix when I was a teenager, and I remember both of my younger siblings staying the night with relatives, but I was never really invited. (think it was because they were closer in age to our cousins)
Never overnight. What would be the purpose of that? ( I know but I'm being polite.)
What do you think the purpose of that would be?
I honestly don't know for sure. Maybe you've got the answer.
Maybe I should mention I was sent to camp for a week every summer. When I was a junior, I was sent to France to live with another family for six weeks.
I stayed with my Grandparents for 3 weeks when I had the chicken pox. My Mother worked and could not take off and my Grandparents worked but Grandpa worked days and Grandma worked midnights so one of them was always there with me.
Was chicken pox that bad? I mean, three weeks of recovery?
I had it when I was very young and barely remember it.
We didn't have relatives in the area, but my mom used to leave us with her friends whenever she could, sometimes for a weekend. By the time I was in high school, she didn't have any friends left.
My husband used to stay at his grandmother's house every other weekend, but that was a custody thing.
I've never left my kids with anyone, friends or relatives, except for one night when I had surgery and my mother-in-law came to stay with the kids. It was supposed to be day surgery but they kept me overnight. MIL made the kids kneel on the tile and pray for my soul for several hours because she thought I was secretly getting an abortion (I was having a D&C to make sure the precancerous growths were all gone, and she was sure the only reason for D&C was abortion). After that I promised the kids they never had to stay with MIL again.
Talking with DH last night, I learned that my experience might have been somewhat unusual but I could use a few more data points.
I had a number of aunts and uncles within a 10 mile radius from us, and another aunt and uncle about 60 miles away. I was telling DH how my mother would drop me off at one or another of these relatives, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a week or more. (Obviously this was when school was out.) He told me that the longest he spent at a relative's house might have been an hour. He was never left there overnight.
Likewise, my cousins were only at the house for day visits. And not very often at that.
What about you?
Nope, I had many aunts & uncles in the area and only once did I ever stay overnight (as a special treat when I was about 10, I stayed at my favorite cousin's house for a weekend). I'm pretty sure that my husband never stayed overnight at his aunts & uncles houses either when he was a child.
Hmmm, your mother would drop you off at your aunts & uncles houses, who lived very close to you for a few days or even a week or more. But, your cousins never stayed overnight at your house. In fact only came rarely for visits during the day. Hmmm, that is interesting.
While, it is possible that your mother had a good reason for this, perhaps your relatives were better educated or did a lot of exciting activities and she wanted you to benefit from that. Or maybe, she couldn't afford to buy food so she dropped you off to get a few days of healthy eating. Or she had a job that meant that she had difficulty caring for you so they helped her out by watching you.
Or, maybe the reason was not quite as "nice". Perhaps, she wanted time away from you to do other things, such as drink or party or have male friends. Or she was a "user" and just "dumped" you on other people to take care of you.
OP, I bet if you really think about it you could figure it out.
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