My SIL said the other day that she was JEALOUS of us because Charlie was so sick as an infant and because he still has lingering health complications.
WHAT?!?!
She's JEALOUS of it? Of what? The heartache? The pain? The bills? The work? The outcome?
She says people pay so much attention to Charlie (and, by extension, us) because he's sick. That he gets extra attention and people plan things around him. That the family helps us out when he's in the hospital (uh, her mom let the dogs out ONCE and once brought us dinner. Other than that, my dad does all the 'helping'). That people ask her mom about Charlie more than about her kid because they want to know how he's doing health wise. That it's not fair and she wishes something was wrong with her kid too.
WHAT?!?!
I don't think anyone (outside of us) pays any more attention to Charlie than to her kid (who lives in another state). Okay, so we DO plan meals around what he (and us, we don't eat what he can't) can't eat. And yeah, people make sure not to come around him if they're really sick and we make sure to clean everything before he touches it. And everyone knows how to handle his meds and dress his wounds if need be.
She wants THAT? I'm jealous of her perfectly healthy (besides probably FAS) kid!
How on earth can someone be jealous of a sick child? I understand youg kids who are jealous of a sibling with cancer because Jimmy gets all mom and dad's attention... but kids don't 'get' what it means to be sick. They just see the extra attention. I can't imagine how any rational adult would be jealous of a sick individual, much less with that THEIR child was sick so that THEY could get all the attention.
I am baffled. Truly baffled. And pissed.