Don't Say "I Do" When You Don't

There are all sorts of tough things in life, but nothing tops keeping silent while you watch your kids make mistakes. Drugs, alcohol, cutting classes, joining the military, college or not--these are big issues, but they pale in comparison to choosing the wrong mate; that can derail you for a long time, maybe forever. It's even worse than electing the wrong president. (If only marriages lasted four years, then came up for renewal--how great would that be?) The fact is, marriage is more than "just the two of us." It's more like the four of us, or these days, the six or ten or twelve of us, and if you don't like them or they don't like you, love may keep you together but you'll wish it hadn't. All those sappy love songs seem to gloss over that indisputable fact.

Following are the titles of some popular love songs, but with a dash of reality thrown in:
"When a Man Loves a Woman-- and Hates Her Father"
"Just the Way You Are, Except With Totally Different DNA"
"You Are So Beautiful, It's Hard to Believe That's Your Mother"
"When I Fall in Love, Let It Be With an Orphan"
"P. S. I Love You But I Can't Do Thanksgiving With Those People"
"I Want to Know What Love Is Without Your Father's Snoring"
"Maybe I'm Amazed You Sprang From Their Loins"
"I Got You Babe, and That's Enough from That Gene Pool"
"Your Relatives Should Jump Off the Bridge Over Troubled Water"
"I Just Called To Say I Love You and I Hate Them"
"I'll Be There As Soon As Your Parents Die"
"Love Me Do But Lose the Folks"
"Spending Time With Your Family is Killing Me Softly" 
"Let's Lock Your Parents Up on the Roof"
"All I Have to Do Is Dream That I'll Wake Up and They've Moved to Europe"

You get the idea. By the way, I have been married twice: The first time I had the world's greatest in-laws who I loved almost more than my own parents, and who I think of fondly to this day. The second time, my husband's mother was already dead when I met him and his father died unexpectedly, shortly after I met him one time. They were both lovely people.