Pretty, Pretty Please.

my family is here for the fourth of july weekend.
i am happy to see my cousin, aunt, and grandmother. but what i find so ridiculous about it all, is the fact that we make such a large deal about it. "oh, family's coming, so be on your best behavior". clean the house, hide everything that seems unusual, and smile. a lot.
when family arrives from afar and they stay with you, you make everything so accommodating for them, so that they're comfortable. you sleep on the couch so they can have your room, and you wake up early in the morning just so you can figure out what wondrous event will take place while we have "guests in the house". you always have to do something extra fun; like going to monterey, or the fair, or the movies, or out to dinner. it's honestly so exhausting because you're always surrounded by family, and the family that you live with are acting especially weird and "normal", like they need to impress everybody.
it's ridiculous.
why do we need to impress them? they're family. shouldn't they accept us for our faults because no matter what, they'll love us?
"but they won't come and visit us if we act like that!"
i never said that we should be rude. what i'm trying to convey here is that we act like everything in our life is perfect and happy and pleasing and just plain...
fake.

i honestly can't take it. i don't care if my room is covered with band posters, or that the floor has stuff everywhere. it doesn't matter to me if we go out somewhere, or stay in and just talk. that's fine with me. but no, we have to make an impression, so we must spend money. we must go somewhere "nice".
to me it just feels like we're trying to show off.
but oh no, it's just "making an impression".

my family accepts me. i'm not going to act perfect, or try to be happy every second i'm around them. because they're family. not friends. not peers. it's not like i'm at a job interview, or any such an interview. i'm surrounded by loved ones, whose blood runs through my veins.
they're my family. and they love me.

no matter who i am.

so please. no more impressions.

with love and light,
eve morgan