You have fallen in love, possibly have some children and plan to be together for better or for worse.
But what could be worse than being judged by your new mother-in-law for the rest of her life?
As the mother of a son, I am very aware of friends who have described quite objectionable behaviour amongst their mothers-in-laws. My task is to try to avoid that devilish whisper that could tempt me to interfere when my own son grows up and marries. (I’ll be honest, not many will be good enough for him) Oops, off I go.
Please punch me in the face if I give my daughter-in-law unsolicited advice. Then, when I am in the hospital, remind me again NEVER to preach to anyone, but especially not daughters-in-law.
We have compiled the most obnoxious mother-in-law behaviour and promise we will never commit the same sins:
1. Passive Aggressive Behaviour
“My MIL insisted on wearing white to our wedding and threw a tantrum when we tried to coax her into another colour. All about you much?” (Mena130_US sourced from Reddit)
“I returned from a night out, and my mother-in-law had cleaned our bathroom from top to bottom. Biting my lip with an assault of emotions, I had to leave the room when she finished with ‘those stains come out you know’. Why didn’t you just tell write me a letter informing me that my house is filthy and I am a lazy wench?” (Lucy_from_The_Block)
“My mother in law refers to the play-pen as The Cage. As in, ‘that child has been in the cage all morning’ or ‘would you not let that poor child out of its cage?’ Cue, the look.” (Eva sourced from HerFamily HQ)
2. You will never be good enough
“My MIL suggested my boyfriend at the time (now husband) become an escort on the Rose of Tralee. I was sitting right there and said ‘But he’s with me.’ She replied, ‘yes but you are both very young’.” (PaulaY from Reddit)
“‘I’m sure he’ll find a nice Japanese girl to marry!’ To me, on the eve of his departure for a two-month research trip to Japan, three weeks after our fourth anniversary.” (Reddit user Lilly_55)
“Whenever we invite her over for dinner she texts me a list of what she wants to eat, like ‘see you at 5, I want soup and homemade cake’. I refuse on principle to have her dictate what I make so I just ignore it. Even if I’d planned soup, as soon as she texts I will make curry instead, and no cake at all.” (Allthegirls from Reddit)
“At our wedding, my mother-in-law asked me (the bride), and her other daughter-in-law and son-in-law to step out of the pictures so the photographer (who we were paying for) could take some pictures of ‘her family’. So, there I was, the bride, standing on the side, watching her set up pictures of ‘her family’. Her son-in-law told me to get used to it, as she does this at all occasions (I still can’t get used to it!)” (sourced from the dailydig.com)
3. Crossing the parenting line
“My Mum-in-law redresses the baby every chance she gets. She starts by telling me that the baby is too hot or too cold. I will patiently explain that she is fine but when I come back into the room minutes later, the baby is dolled up in another, more ‘suitable’ outfit.” (sourced from HerFamily HQ)
“I was growing out my daughters fringe until my mother-in-law decided to give it a chop as it was ‘always hanging in her eyes’. Hide the scissors, for ALL the reasons.” (HerFamily HQ)
“As I’m holding her second grandchild all of three months old on Christmas Eve, she said, ‘By the way, I don’t babysit.'” (LadyDi M, sourced from Grandparents.com)
4. I wish I was joking
“When we were away on holidays celebrating getting the keys to our new house my mother-in-law ‘surprised’ us by getting in her builder in and knocking down one wall as well as building another. We haven’t invited her to the housewarming!” (Friend of HerFamily HQ)
“My husband’s parents are much older than most. Last Christmas I received a lovely wrapped present of…. a Christina Aguilera fragrance called ‘Touch of Seduction’. I am 38 years old. She looked delighted with herself and said she knew I was ‘into pop-stars and all that.’ Touched alright.” (Friend of HerFamily HQ)
“My mother-in-law thinks Sudocrem fixes everything. Even asthma.” (HerFamily HQ)
“My MIL posted a work-out video on Facebook, tagged me and it, and wrote ‘now you have no excuse’ under it.” (DD211205 sourced from thoughtcatalog.com)
5. Not all bad
We may love to hate our monster-in-law’s but often they are the ones who we ring at 3am asking advice about a temperature, we turn to them when we are stuck for childcare and we love that they love our children as much as we do (even if their trousers are too short) Like them or not, we are stuck with them for them for better or worse.
“My mother-in-law gave us a sign to hang by the front door that said, ‘A fisherman lives here with the catch of his life.’ I love my mother-in-law. We are partners in crime caring for her son. I am truly blessed.” – Jacqueline G.
Heard a funny mother-in-law story? We would love to hear a story about a ‘friend’ of yours.
