divided we stand united we fall

I am glad I am not the only one with that thinking. You are absolutely true. even th moon looks so nice from so far and the moment you get closer to it you start to see the crevices and marks on the moon surface. Even relatives are like that. Getting too close to them exposes the worst side of them and you lose the charm in the relationship. The more time you spend close together the more you come to know about things that you never knew when you were away from them. And then you wish you never came so close to them. Its easy to hurt someone or the other when a bunch of people come together. The reason being everyones choices, preferences and priorities are different and it is impossible to satisfy every ones wants(purposefully the word need is not used and "want" is used). Every time I have attended a function or a family reunion at my parents side or my husbands family side I have only witnessed people discussion each others follies in their absence. And I feel sick with all th dirty politics taking place within the family. I am most happy when back home with just my hubby and my kid to think about.

Yeah. I do understand how you feel. Whenever we see our parents fighting very often, we usually think that it is better if they will separate than seeing them fight. But why do you think they still stay together despite fighting every now and then? It's because they don't want you to experience a broken family. The best thing for you to do is to have a serious talk with them when they're not hot headed.