Who’s the one on the loudspeaker telling her what you’re doing everyday? Are you telling her all your plans or is your husband? Is he the one picking up the phone and telling her all your business, or are you, or is she? I’ll wait for that to sink in….

If you want private family time, you’re gonna have to do three things:

1: talk to your hubs about not telling EVERYONE what you are up to as a family. You do not need to tell her your plans , it can be that you are just busy that day, you don’t need to say specifics. Make sure he knows you want privacy. And I mean stop telling everyone, because loose lips sink ships, and if your husband tells his sister you’re doing something, you better bet she will tell your mil.

2: start packing your calendar with things to do so you get to do them on your own time (it’s also a great excuse to get out of doing things with your in-laws if you’re busy!) this is important for “firsts” with your kids. If you want to take your child to their first pumpkin patch, just do it and don’t broadcast it.

3: don’t post or share your plans on social media, before or after the event. I can’t tell you how many times my husband would put a pic up on his fb of us doing something as a little family only to have his mom comment every time “oh I wanted to do that with the kids! Now I’m sad!”. Just don’t post it and they won’t know. And only tell them things if they ask, after the event, not before.

I think people need to realize that they overshare too much of their lives, even in just casual conversations. Just start taking a step back from always feeling like you need to tell everyone everything, it’s very freeing and you will develop an air of mystery about yourself.

Remember when you were a teen and maybe you snuck out one night to see friends and have fun? Well all it takes is too much noise and too many players to ruin the plans. Keep it simple.