Joanna Fortune: It feels as if my in-laws hijacked Christmas

It’s lovely to have ageing parents present at family occasions — one day, this won’t be the case, so you want to ensure the celebrations you host are connection-focused. Picture: iStock 

My in-laws stayed with us over Christmas. Both are in their 70s, and I went to a lot of trouble to make sure they had a good time. My husband was of little help and kept fussing about his mum, who expected to be treated like a queen. His dad is a lovely, quiet man, but didn’t even offer to wash a cup. I know I should be more understanding as they were getting on in years, but I felt my Christmas was hijacked.

It would be helpful to take a couple of weeks to exhale the stress of what happened before you discuss what happened with your husband. The conversation will go better when you can enter it from a calmer place within yourself.