Having family over is a fun time, especially when they are staying with you during the holiday period, as life gets busy so you may not see them as often as you would like. While you may love them, they can still annoy you and it’s for the best that you don’t live together anymore.
This woman on Reddit welcomed her mother-in-law into her home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas period while her home is being renovated. A weird habit that the woman noticed was that her MIL would walk in on her while she was in the bathroom and she started to suspect it wasn’t by accident, so she came up with a fun prank.
More info: Reddit
Woman suspected that her mother-in-law was purposefully walking in on her in the bathroom so she decided to play a little game
Image credits: k.steudel (not the actual photo)
The Original Poster (OP) doesn’t lock the bathroom door, or any room door, as a matter of fact, because when she was 5 years old, her brother locked her in so she was pretty traumatized.
That isn’t a problem when there’s 2 people living in the house, but during her one-week stay, MIL walked in on the OP a couple of times and she started to think that she was doing it on purpose. But when she talked with her husband, he didn’t think it was a big deal because she’s family.
Mother-in-law's home was being renovated so she plans to stay at her son's house for the holiday season
Image credits: Positive_Balance3756
To prove her point, the woman would go to the bathroom without needing to use it and just stand there fully clothed in an awkward or weird position waiting for her MIL to open the door. The OP wasn’t waiting in vain as MIL barged in as expected.
MIL walked in on her doing a ballet stand, standing on the toilet and standing facing the wall with her hands up. When the doors would open, she would turn her head and see the confusion in her MIL’s face.
The way the MIL interpreted the woman’s behavior was that she was “practicing rituals in the bathroom” and told that to her son. He wanted to find out what was the meaning of it and when he was told she was doing it on purpose after suspecting MIL was purposefully following her into the bathroom, the man was quite angry.
But he wasn’t angry at his mom, he got annoyed with his wife that she was playing these games and made his mom worry. He thought his wife was being immature and could avoid this problem by simply locking the door.
Her daughter-in-law doesn't have much to complain about, but she has been walking in on her when she was using the bathroom
Image credits: Positive_Balance3756
People in the comments were offended for the OP that her husband would tell her that, because it wasn’t his wife that was doing something she shouldn’t have, but his mom walking around a house she was a guest in and not even knocking when entering the bathroom. On top of that, she did this multiple times and didn’t learn anything from it.
Later the woman edited the post and informed redditors that her husband and MIL are still upset with her. The husband is demanding an apology and the wife thinks she might have been to blame for not locking the door, but MIL’s behavior was also weird. She is not looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner but at least she could laugh about it on the internet as people in the comments found her response to MIL invading her privacy hilarious.
Her husband didn't think it was a big deal but the woman suspected that the MIL was doing it on purpose
Image credits: Positive_Balance3756
MILs are known for overstepping boundaries, for sticking their noses into their children’s relationships and wanting to know everything. However, to have a healthy relationship and to make sure you don’t start hating a person, you need to set boundaries.
Vision psychology says, “Boundaries are what help us to keep ourselves and our relationships healthy. They stop us from becoming drained because we are pushing ourselves beyond our limits.”
That's why she would wait for her MIL to enter the bathroom in a weird or awkward position to confuse her husband's mom
Image credits: Positive_Balance3756
Although you are setting boundaries to keep a healthy relationship, you may notice that your in-laws are not very happy about them. But experts say that “You are not responsible for making them feel better. Boundaries work only when you remember that you can only control your actions, not the other person’s. The same is true for someone else’s thoughts and feelings.”
However, you should assess what is most important to you and which boundaries are negotiable so you can compromise. Also, know that sticking to them is important so that others will respect them, but you can change them after a while and make them stricter or looser.
The MIL actually thought she was doing weird rituals and told her son, who was furious and demanded to know the real reason, and now both of them are upset with the woman
Image credits: Positive_Balance3756
Various resources online have compiled a list of the most important boundaries to have with your mother-in-law and many of them are quite similar. They mention things like her having to respect that in your house, you have your own rules and that you raise your children as you see fit because you are the parent.
The specific boundaries are unique to every couple, so Live Bold And Bloom suggests looking at these 5 categories and deciding which ones are problematic in your relationship. Those categories are parenting, visitation, vacations, holidays and medical.
Image credits: Marco Verch Professional Photographer (not the actual photo)
The woman in the story probably should include personal space and privacy as well, although you wouldn’t think that such things need to be explained to other adults. The situation with the bathroom may be funny at first glance and people in the comments were joking around about what the OP could do next, but it ended in an argument with both the woman’s husband and MIL.
What did you think about the OP pranking and joking around with her MIL? Do you think she should have just talked with her? Or because it looked like the MIL was doing it on purpose, she deserved it? Let us know in the comments!
People in the comments loved the woman's idea and were suggesting more ways she could mess with her MIL
