I tried calling my parents’ house line and their cell phone two days in a row to no answer. I wasn’t sure whether they just were ignoring the call because the number would come up as unlisted since I was dialing them via Skype, but they knew I was abroad, so I would have assumed they’d know I’d try to call at some point. So after the second day of trying to call, I emailed my dad and told him I tried calling. He responded and asked what number I was dialing from, and I said Skype. His response? “We blocked all international calls unless they are coming in through a pre-paid phone card.”

What is the logic in that, especially when they know I’m not in the country?

So I finally got through after he agreed to unblock the calls. I asked my mom about it, and she defended the decision, saying that she leaves those decisions up to my dad and that if that’s what he wants, then he should do it the way he wants to (that’s very nice of her, isn’t it)? Then, she grew irritated when I didn’t have much to share with her other than high-level updates she wants to know (who I am seeing, what I am doing). She never explicitly said she wasn’t thrilled with me, but it was pretty obvious from her tone and the words she was using that she was not happy I was in Australia with Chris’s family and that she thought it was unnecessary. “Send everyone my regards,” she said icily.

One of Chris’s cousins asked how my parents were doing, and I told him that my mom always gets jealous when I come here. I said she doesn’t think it’s “necessary” to come visit Chris’s parents. But she’s completely fine that I come to see her three to four times a year in San Francisco; in fact, she was really disappointed that I *only* came to San Francisco three times this past year. “She does realize that you’re visiting… your husband’s parents and family, right?” he asked, quizzically. “There are two sides to each couple — isn’t that true?”

Yes, she realizes it. And, well, she hates it. That’s what jealousy is.