This subject has come up before on this forum. There were many difference opinions , most were negative.(ie. choose an orphan, tell them you are not an ATM, live far away, etc.). I am wondering if there are some positive experiences. For example, my son is almost as close to his Lola as he is his mom, and they are extremely close. Am I the exception?
Nothing but positive experience with my wife's extended family. Honest, hard working and they know the limits of what we will do to help financially (health emergencies etc), which we always do. Maybe it's their upbringing. We are employing brothers to do minor construction works right now (please, no comments about local builder quality) while the fishing is not good. We also help by housing and assisting a few nephews and nieces to attend college - breaks the spiral of poverty, so a long term investment.
My wife is from Cebu. Years ago we moved to Negros and build our home here in Dumaguete. I encouraged her to convince her sister to live with us. Since then she is with us permanently. Her brother and mother are visiting us frequently, as well as a nephew. Provided they got days off from work. They have there own rooms in our house. I am more than happy to welcome them at any given time. The door is wide open. This works out perfectly for us since many years already. It gives us more freedom to travel around cause there is always somebody in the house to feed the dogs and taking care of things. Family of my wife is pretty well connected and countless times they were able to manage things or just helping us with daily routines like government stuff, permits, visa or whatsoever. It makes life easier if you have good partners. I never understood why people saying you should keep your wifes family away from you, live on a different island and stuff like that. If you really have to do that you just choosed the wrong wife. Simple as that.
