I've been following this thread since the beginning, and what's really interesting is this crazy, ludicrous emotional roller-coaster ride that some parents seem to thrive on. I just had to "clip n' save" some of the excerpts from Celtic Cowboy's mother's e-mail as well as sathor's mother's mail, because my wife's mother sends the same crap -- just about verbatim! I'm serious, if someone showed me the following snippets and didn't tell me that they weren't from my mother-in-law, I'd wouldn't believe it!

Celtic Cowboy's mother:
I was very disappointed and hurt that...

...showed a lack of respect and caring for me...

...too much for me to deal with...

...you ask that we respect you and yet even for one day you chose not to respect how I felt...
Sathor's mother:
...I am pouring my soul out to you please stop and think about what you are doing...

...I love you but you have some issues you need to resolve...

...not being so hateful...
The resemblance is just uncanny!!! The only difference with my wife's family, is that they say these things not about kilt-wearing, but just about us and our lives in general. Here's an excerpt of my own (received 2 wks ago from the m.i.l.):
...I know I try very hard and I know dad and *(wife's sister)* both feel I try. They also feel Iam the scapegoat and that I take the most flak.

I just wish you would be nice to me...

Its a teribble thing to a mother to not be wanted.

The tone I hear when you speak or as in this letter is painful too. I don't find it very kindly written and you need to try and not be so condesending. Iam nearly crying again. you are so HARD.
And that's the way it goes. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. You'd think we were the worst offspring in the world by reading this stuff. My wife is often at her wit's end with this crap too. She often tells me, "How can I get adopted into another family?" I chuckle when she says it, but she's often told me, "No, I'm serious! If I could get adopted into another family -- I would! You think I could put an ad in the paper for a new mother?"

So, take heart Celtic Cowboy & Sathor -- you're not alone! We have our share of family weirdness too. I don't even want to think about the e-mails we'd start getting if the wife's family knew I walked around kilted.