Thanksgiving is all about spending time surrounded by loved ones. It might be the only opportunity you have all year to visit your family and enjoy quality time playing board games with them, catching up on each other’s lives and eating your absolute favorite comfort foods.
But it’s not a requirement to be with your parents on that special day. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and it makes more sense to have a quaint celebration with your friends or partner. One mother, however, refused to accept the idea of her son staying with his wife over this holiday. Below, you’ll find the full story that a soon-to-be mom shared on Reddit, as well as some of the advice that invested readers left her.
This woman and her husband decided to have a small Thanksgiving at home this year, since she's too pregnant to fly
Image credits: pch.vector / freepik (not the actual photo)
But her mother-in-law refused to accept the fact that her son wouldn't be traveling
Image credits: jet-po / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: EyeEm / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: prostock-studio / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Awkward_Middle4138
Thanksgiving week is the most chaotic and expensive time to travel in the United States
The week of Thanksgiving is the most popular time for travel in the United States. In 2024, over 71 million Americans traveled by car to reach their destinations for this holiday, and the Sunday after Thanksgiving is always the country’s busiest day of the year for air travel.
Nerd Wallet reports that last year, over 3.09 million travelers passed through American airports on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, making it a record-breaking day for air travel in the US. Because airports are so chaotic during this time, traveling home for the holiday can be an extremely stressful experience.
Travelers must brace themselves for intensely packed airports, long security lines, tense and stressed out airport employees and possible delays due to crowded runways and winter weather.
Not to mention the fact that the days leading up to Thanksgiving are some of the most expensive times to fly within the United States, so travelers will have to decide whether or not it’s worth it to spend hundreds on a quick weekend trip to their parents’ house. Even if you’re willing to travel on Thanksgiving Day, The Points Guy notes that the average journey will still cost a whopping $470.
Another important factor to consider in this situation is the author’s pregnancy. The Mayo Clinic recommends that women who are expecting stop traveling by plane once they reach 36 weeks. However, if the soon-to-be mother is experiencing any complications in her pregnancy, she might have to stop traveling even earlier.
In this case, it’s simply not an option for the author to join her husband and visit his family alongside him. Especially because only about 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. Meanwhile, over 90% show up within two weeks before or after their due date.
The majority of babies arrive slightly before or after their actual due date
Image credits: prostooleh / freepik (not the actual photo)
The last thing this author should have to worry about in the days leading up to her child’s birth is whether or not her mother-in-law is upset with her. Unfortunately, it’s quite common for women to have overbearing mother-in-laws, but the good news is that Choosing Therapy has some tips for how to navigate these relationships.
First, they recommend setting healthy boundaries. This may not be easy, but it certainly helps when you don’t live in the same city as your partner’s parents.
It’s also a good idea to consider exactly where her behavior is stemming from. Is she jealous, insecure or narcissistic? Perhaps she just doesn’t know how to express her love in a healthy way. Putting yourself in her shoes might help you understand where she’s coming from.
If possible, it may be best to simply avoid her. Your partner can see her whenever he wants, but you don’t need to tag along every time. And you certainly don’t need to spend any one-on-one time with her.
Another suggestion Choosing Therapy has is abandoning the goal of meeting your mother-in-law’s expectations. You can’t change her opinion on you, but you can control how it affects you. As long as you and your partner have a healthy relationship, that’s all you need to focus on.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Do you think this woman made the right call by setting boundaries with her husband’s mom? Feel free to weigh in, and then, you can find another Bored Panda article featuring in-law drama right here.
Readers were appalled by the mother-in-law's behavior, and many assured the author that she had done nothing wrong
