Not every in-law relationship will be smooth-sailing. Every family will have occasional rifts and friction because of differences in personality traits, expectations, and even traditions.
However, there’s a massive difference between occasional disagreements and repeatedly crossing somebody’s boundaries. These can take the form of offering unsolicited advice, meddling in a couple’s decisions, trying to control matters they shouldn’t, and basically everything these mothers-in-law did.
These are firsthand accounts of people who expressed their MIL-related grievances on Reddit. Scroll through and see if you relate to any of these.
#61
She asked me to go out of my own home while she visited my H and children that’s she had no interest in anyway.
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2points
#62
Convinced my ex to take my daughter out of state and try to keep her, enrol her in school etc. Took me almost a month and a lot of lawyer and court appointments before she was brought back and I got sole custody.
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2points
#63
My monster-in-laws husband passed. I REALLY miss him - but bananas if this we decide to move back closer to her - we were close at the time
Thanksgiving- we didn’t want her to be alone so my side of the family got together and cooked everything and she hosted
After - I received a 3 page (front and back) hand written letter - through the mail - telling me how lovely my family is and how disappointed she is that my mental issues cause everyone in my life so much stress and why can’t I just get it together and see and doctor and be medicated?
When my husband confronted her “I’m just telling her the truth”.
I haven’t spoken to her in yrs since - HOWS SPENDING HOLIDAYS ALONE NOW!!!???
Thanksgiving- we didn’t want her to be alone so my side of the family got together and cooked everything and she hosted
After - I received a 3 page (front and back) hand written letter - through the mail - telling me how lovely my family is and how disappointed she is that my mental issues cause everyone in my life so much stress and why can’t I just get it together and see and doctor and be medicated?
When my husband confronted her “I’m just telling her the truth”.
I haven’t spoken to her in yrs since - HOWS SPENDING HOLIDAYS ALONE NOW!!!???
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2points
#64
I said I didn’t want to live on a big property with my in-laws (mil, sil, and sil, her husband and 2 kids) when we were planning to build on a property we had purchased. My daughter stayed the night with my sil and mil was visiting out of time. My daughter overheard her say that she didn’t know why her son married me and I wasn’t good enough to be part of the family. So, the next day, my 9 year d daughter asks if she is good enough to be in the family since I’m not. MIL denied it and threatened to drive herself off the bridge. She didn’t and I never let my children spend the night or have unsupervised visits again.
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2points
#65
Mil went in my closet at her house and packed every single item clothing of mine (including lingerie and coats, underwear , shirts ect.. pit them in garbage bags by the door . Mind you I came home from a 10 hours shift at the hospital and saw this . I don’t like confrontation when living in someone’s home bc 1 . It will never end well 2 . It will make my anxiety way worse bc I love there . I asked my fiancé to ask her why she did that . He did. She replied “ I asked her to donate her clothes and she didn’t “
Oh. I was pregnant too at this time
Oh. I was pregnant too at this time
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2points
#66
She told my husband that he better not marry me, since my mother was "crazy" (bipolar) and that meant I was too. He would never stand up for me, but then we moved far away from his family, got married, and he did a 180°. Been together 35 years.
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2points
#67
When my brother passed away she told my husband ”good thing its not your real family.. then it would be sad”
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2points
#68
I gave birth to my son 3 weeks before my due date because I had extremely high blood pressure and needed to be induced. My son had an unrelated health issue causing him to be hospitalized in the PICU for 2 weeks, unexpectedly. I was an emotional wreck, being 3 days postpartum and having no idea what was wrong with my son. My MIL said it was my fault he was ill and if I didn't get induced, none of it would have happened. She was pissed at ME and blamed ME for everything. Instead of later apologizing, she made an excuse and said that she was "just emotional" and my husband and I "should have comforted her more" while our newborn was in the hospital...
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2points
#69
To me, at Christmas dinner in my wife and my home, after paying for her plane tickets to visit us, said she couldn’t believe we were still together.
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2points
#70
Hold a birthday party for our kid one week before the birthday. We weren't invited. Neither was my family.
When I called her out on it she cried.
When I called her out on it she cried.
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2points
#71
Needle me about my weight.
After we ate dessert once at a restaurant she said to me in the bathroom, “I kept waiting for you to scrape off some of that frosting.” It felt so cruel.
Later we were preparing for a cross-country move and she said, “I wonder what the new climate will do for your appetite.” I had no words. I didn’t respond. She tried to backpedal a bit, but you can’t undo such a slap across the face.
Honestly, I think she thinks she’s being helpful, but it cuts deep. So deep I’ll think of it at her funeral service.
After we ate dessert once at a restaurant she said to me in the bathroom, “I kept waiting for you to scrape off some of that frosting.” It felt so cruel.
Later we were preparing for a cross-country move and she said, “I wonder what the new climate will do for your appetite.” I had no words. I didn’t respond. She tried to backpedal a bit, but you can’t undo such a slap across the face.
Honestly, I think she thinks she’s being helpful, but it cuts deep. So deep I’ll think of it at her funeral service.
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2points
#72
Tried to take control of me and my kids. Said she wish I aborted my second child. Told my soon to be ex husband she hates my 5 year old because she is sassy. Called me fat and fat shamed my daughter when she was 12. I could keep going on
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2points
#73
My ex-MIL invited us to family christmas (12 adults and 10 kids). She gave her biograndkids presents but not my 3 from my first marriage (ages 8,7,&5) - so they got left out while all the other kids got stuff. She apparently told everyone else to not get them stuff either. Sad part is this wasnt our first Christmas - her son and I had been together 5 years
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2points
#74
On my 2nd or 3rd Christmas with my husband's family, she complained about EVERY gift she opened. In his family, everyone opens one present at a time, and we rotate around the room until everyone is done. In the end it was just her still opening presents (because everyone is expected to get her an individual gift while the rest of the family usually "goes in" on one or two gifts for the ither family members), and when she was done she announces to the room "I didn't get hardly anything off of my list, and some of you kids hardly gave me anything this year!" 4 of her children were still in their teens! Who expects teenagers to give expensive gifts!? She pouted for 20 minutes and finally went to her room for the rest of the night. I missed my family so much that I cried myself to sleep that night.
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2points
#75
My mom had just been diagnosed with cancer and was quite panicked and anxious. Emotionally, I tell my parents-in-law that I find that very intense. MIL: "Why are you crying, it's not that bad. If your mother passae away, you still have your father."
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2points
#76
Suprise-booked the cabin next to us when my husband and I went on a holiday so I could relax, recuperate and grief in peace after my mother passed away. Now we don't tell them anymore when we're going away.
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2points