Do your inl-laws or parents live close by?

My parents live about an hour away from me, that is close enough to get there in the event of an emergency or something unexpected.

We live in a an apartment unit owned by my parents. MY mom lives at the 3rd floor of the building, while ours is at the ground floor and 2nd floor level. There was no problem even if we live in the same building. We also live separately from my parents in law. Before they migrated to the US, they live about 15 kilometers from our place. Now they are in the USA and my MIL just come home once every 2 years, while FIL comes twice a year. We do come along well.

It is always better when we live with our parents and in-laws. They alwsays come out with their useful advice and opinion and they know how to handle a particlur situation, because being elder to us, they are more experienced and you know 'there is no substitute for experience'. My parents now a days stays with my younger brother, to help him raise/maintain his kids and family. Earlier, they used to stay with us. When they were around, there were less worries and tensions for us because many of the daily routine things were looked after by them. Now, we are suppose to look after our house and we need to perform even the minute and small tasks ourselves,without the guidance or help of our elders. To tell you the truth, it hurts when elders are not around, if they are around, you feel secure and contended and always seek their guidance and advice. Nonetheless an Excellent Post by you! Full marks to you. Have a great day!

I live a long ways from my parents and it is a 8 hour drive to the in-laws. We see them both twice a year, but we call both frequently.

As the saying goes " grass is always greener on the other side ". Similarly, if you dont have something you want it, and when you have it, you wish for a change . I would say that keeping a little distance from parents and in-laws is the best option, after so many years of my marriage. There are many pros and cons, but thats what i feel over all. I undersatnd and agree that being within a joint family is nice , as the kids get the best of all the worlds and household things are shared and all that. But, along side comes the problem of their interference in your day to day affairs. Its your small family and if you want to do something, parents or in-laws permission is needed or they have some other ideas,which maybe need to be followed. There maybe exceptions, i speak for myself and my general experience. I have lived with my parents and my in-laws at different times and also far away , so i can say all this with confidence. When they live together , things are taken for granted and your value lessens too. Maybe your spouse whose parents are staying with you, is not able to give you that much of persoanl attention, that they were giving you, when both of you are alone in your small nuclear family. The kids are affected, that the discipline that you mayve taught your kids, may not be followed in the joint family, as grand-parents generally are very soft and tend to spoil the kids, by pampering them or doing things that maybe parents would not like their kids to do, in short, they like to play and be lenient with the grand-kids and parents maynot like that. Other family functions and rituals have to be followed when in a joint family, which you could have done without, in your own nuclear family. I prefer the nuclear family better i think, as its closer knit and we are all togehter. But, i would like us to visit our parents and in-laws, meet and be with them for a while and return back to your home. I think the value of realtionships comes out more, if there is a little distance in between.

In fact, the ideal situation is to have them both (your mom and yr mom-in-law) at hand but not so nearby that you step over each other's toes. Its good for growing child to interact with the grandmothers. This is what matters and evrything else is mostly veneer, unless you are lucky.

the in-laws care for their child. your parents care for you. it's impossible to carry out such an ordeal.

No my parents are living about 500 miles from where I live and my in laws are living 500 mile the another side.But we meet very often since I am living in the capital of the state they have to come here for something or other.

Thankfully my Hubby's parent and siblings all live far away as I don't get along with any of them. My Dad lives up North and I only get to call and sometimes write to him but my Mom and a couple of my brothers live within a block or two of me. Have a good day!! AT PEACE WITHIN

I live with my in-laws in a joint family. My parents live in another twn about 175 kms away. My in-laws are very loving. They treat me as their real daughter. No restrictions. Full freedom. No pushing. Only love.

We used to live about half an hour away from my fiance's parents, and we would normally see his dad about once a week, and his mom every few months. We lived a couple of hours away from my parents, so we would usually only see them at Christmas (though we would sometimes stay at my mom's if we were in the area). Now we live much further away, and I don't mind it so much. His dad still calls about once a week, and we don't really talk to the rest except every few months. (I'm not really close with most of my family, except for one sister, because of some past events in my life.) I did like living near to my fiance's parents, because his dad took good care of him, and always asked if we needed anything. He still tells us that if we need anything, he will do whatever he can to help us out. We are pretty much self-sufficient, but it is good to know that we have someone who would help us if we really needed it. :)

I can only tell you how it is for me.My folks took my daughter and are raising her.I've heard every execuse in the book from them about how they don't htink I can raise raise her.It happened when she was a baby.I won't go into the whole story but basically my life has been really h#ll because of it.I have gone to lawyers only to have my little girl in tears because of it.I can't help that it makes me mad.My mother is very domineering and always has to have her way and thinks everyone else is screwed up.I've never been able to please her or my dad.I fight with them almost on a constant basis.I'm not saying that would ever happen to you at least I pray it wouldn't.

Well, My parents live about 15 minutes away from me. They live right next door to my brother though and I do believe my brother both hates it and loves it. Loves it because him and his wife take complete advantage of the "babysitter next door". They won't take their kids anywhere so they'll say "will you watch the kids so we can go grocery shopping" or "out to eat" or whatever. and my mother always says Yes. Fortunately my dad isn't one to be taken advantage of. Hate it because my parents (his parents) are always there! but my brother and his wife knowingly moved in next door to my parents...so their fault anyhow. As for in-laws... I only have my brothers wife and we don't associate much unless we have to. I hope if I get married, he has better in-laws than the idiot my brother married.

my perents live about 6km from us (we actually wanted to live even closer but we couldnt find a house that we liked there) my in laws live on another continent (you cant get there by bus :))))) we are in australia they are in europe. I would love them to come here as my husband has no one here. It was my husband decision to live so close to my parents and he is planing to get a little house for them when they are older and put it in our back yard so they can live with us. My husband loves my parents (you can never say anything bad about them infront of him) but I love his as well.

My parents live a 45 minute drive in one direction, and his parents live a 45 minute drive in another direction. I don't mind advice, what I mind is that if I don't take my mom's advice, she doesn't care. She knows I listened, and she's content, although not necessarily happy, with having expressed her opinion. My mother in law however, used to be rather insistent and a bit pushier about her advice, and she'd follow up to see if we did it. If we didn't do it her way, she'd get upset, as if we had insulted her.

My parents live 2 minutes away. :) My husband's parents live 20 minutes away. (wish it were further)