7 Tricks For Getting Off The Phone With Your In-laws
Author: Gloria Moore

Are your in-laws constantly calling you and you're tired of
answering the phone or staying in long phone conversations when
you have things to do, or just want time to yourself? If you're
in this frustrating situation, you're not alone. Many people
dread phone calls from their in-laws, especially in-laws who are
really chatty and love to gossip, in-laws who like to complain,
in-laws who want to borrow things, or in-laws you simply don't
like.

There is no reason why you should have to put up with the
dreaded in-law calls, and there are many ways you can avoid
these calls or cut phone calls short with creative excuses. Here
are some interesting ideas you may want to consider using the
next time your in-laws call:

Screen the calls – If you have Caller ID, don't always answer
the phone if your in-laws' numbers pop up. If you don't have
Caller ID, consider obtaining this service or don't answer the
phone and screen calls with your answering machine.

Answer the other line – Wait for a few minutes into the
conversation, and either call your home phone with you cell
phone, or have a household member call. If no one is available,
pretend someone is on the other line. Tell your in-law that your
other line is ringing and you are expecting an important call.

Fake a power outage – Pull the phone plug/cord out of the wall
to disconnect the line while you are talking to make it appear
as if the power went out or the line went dead. Directly after
you do this, immediately take all the phones in your house off
the hook so that if your in-law calls you back right away,
they'll only get a busy signal. This makes your "phone lie" much
more convincing the next time you talk to them. Only leave your
phone off the hook for as long as necessary, as you don't want
to run the risk of actually missing an important call.

Tell them you were just on your way out the door – talk really
fast and sound rushed, and let them know that you really have to
go because you'll be late for whatever appointment, etc. you are
attending.

My kids/partner/pet need me – Tell your in-law someone else in
your household needs your help. If you need to make this more
convincing, tell your kids or partner to call you so that the
person on the other end of the line can hear it.

My battery is running low – If you are on a cell phone or
cordless phone, pretend the battery is running out.

Use sounds for help – You can download different sounds from
the internet that you can play to help you with your lies. Some
good sounds include traffic noises, which is useful if they call
your cell phone so you can pretend you're in traffic and you
can't talk. Another good noise is the sound of something
crashing, loud talking voices, static sounds, etc.

Essentially, the trick is to always pretend you're busy and you
don't have time for them if you really don't want to talk to
your in-laws, and hopefully they'll take the hint. However, if
you want to keep a good relationship with your in-laws, you need
to make sure you do take the time to talk to them or call them
back to successfully pretend that you were busy and their call
was important to you. In addition, don't always use the same
excuses or make fake excuses all the time if you don't want the
annoying callers to become suspicious.


About The Author: Gloria is a telecommunication and consumer
advocate guru with a distaste for telemarketers. You can check
out her next big project- a site finding the owners to phone
numbers http://www.LookUpThisNumber.com