D.J.
Hi! I have 3 children, 10, 7 & 5-oldest a girl & 2 boys. I understand your situation! We live in Gahanna and are from Youngstown-a 3 hr drive. I have a sister that lives in the area so we vent to each other-she has 4 kids and the rest of our family lives "back home."
Fortunately my family & inlaws live within 15 minutes of each other, but our siblings sometimes haven't understood the difficulties of traveling with kids! Even though our siblings have children, they don't travel holidays, etc. with kids in tow every year. As my children have gotten older we knew we would go less frequently for visits because of school & activities. I thought it would be hard, but my husband and I think the road is not a one-way street and we have always welcomed relatives to visit. My Mother-in-law and Father-in-law have always visited the most of any of our relatives. I have come to accept everyone else's attitudes as they are the ones who are losing out & we can't force them to visit or understand our situation. I would discuss with your husband what is best for your family and stick by your decision. Let your family know what you have decided and keep the door open. I have the same problem with my family & inlaws not seeing eye-to-eye, but I keep my comments about each family to a minimum so it doesn't add fuel to the fire. Good luck! Debbie