Mother-In-Law Horror Stories

Meeting their future mother-in-law is a very stressful time for many people because you never know what the outcome of this meeting could be. They could decide they don’t like you and will do everything in their power to turn their child against you. 

Sadly, this is exactly what happened to these people whose mothers-in-law despise them. Scroll down to hear some of the most horrific mother-in-law stories ever!

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1. Leave And Never Come Back

My mother-in-law comes and stays with us a few times each year. Every time she says it’ll be a week, and then it turns into three, four, sometimes five! She doesn’t clean up after herself, and she makes a far larger mess than we normally do.

She expects dinner to be made for her at 6 p.m. every night. She doesn’t let anyone else get a word in any conversation, and she treats us like we’re failures. It’s just constant judgment about how we live our lives, from our jobs to raising our kids to the cleanliness of our home.

She invites people over without saying anything to us. She is loud at all hours. She even bought a bed for her to use when she’s here. She sleeps in the den, and we have nowhere to store the giant mattress she bought, so now it’s just constantly in our way.

I want my husband to tell her she can’t stay with us anymore, but the only reason we let her stay is because she let us borrow money to buy the house, and we’re still paying her back. It’s insane, and I just want her to never stay with us again.

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2. Dog Attack

First off, I am fine. I’m more scared than anything. The bruising is minor, and the bites didn’t seriously injure me, but my mother-in-law watched the attack happen and didn’t say anything.

Her 140 lb dog jumped up at me repeatedly and kept biting my arms and grabbing hold of my arm, almost dragging me to the ground. The dog is big enough that she could wrap her entire mouth around my arm, basically crushing my arm. It hurt but didn’t break the skin. During the attack, I remember being aware that my arm was in the dog’s mouth numerous times.

The dog likes to play rough and play fight with other dogs, but this was unexpected and unprovoked. I felt fear and didn’t know what to do. I just stood still and hoped the dog would let go of me.

After twenty seconds, the dog stopped coming at me and ran off because it got distracted by something else. My mother-in-law didn’t say anything despite being four feet from where it happened.

Later in the evening, she made a comment in passing that the dog can be “intimidating and show affection roughly.” I didn’t think the bites were that bad until the next day when I saw visible bruising and experienced pain. I’m angry that my mother-in-law didn’t do anything, and now I don’t feel safe around that dog.

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3. Eviction Notice

So, my husband has been in jail for almost a year now. We have been married/living together for five years. He already owned the house when I met him. Come to find out, this entire time, the house has been in his mother’s name for “tax purposes.” I have never gotten along with his mother, she’s always hated me for just simply existing.

Two months ago, my mother-in-law and I had a huge fight. She kept coming over to my house when I wasn’t home. She would take my personal belongings and snoop through everything in my house. She’d tell me I’m not allowed to have people over. She would call me out for simply having things plugged in, like my coffee maker, or if I left a fan on while I went to work.

I finally had enough and blew up and banned her from ever coming by again. So, she started spending the night. I would come home from work, and she would be there in my spare bedroom. If I made a noise at all, she would come out screaming at me that it’s her house and I needed to be quiet…I legit just dealt with this crazy behavior from a 71-year-old woman for the sake of my husband.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to call the cops and turn it into a huge deal…Until she threw me on the ground and spat in my face. At that point, I had her charged with trespassing. Well, two months later, I got served with eviction paperwork. My husband knew nothing about this. So, I’m scrambling to figure out everything now.

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4. She Ruined Thanksgiving 

My husband and I agreed to go over to his parents’ house early to help cook for tonight. By that, I mean, me and MIL are washing and drying produce, cutting everything up, and basically doing all the prep so that when we actually do the cooking later, it is streamlined.

Apparently, I cut the potatoes wrong, and she told me to get out of her bleeping house if I don’t know how to help. My husband is leaving with me. I had already bought a bunch of stuff on sale because she never lets us take leftovers, so we are going home, and I’ll just make a full Thanksgiving on my own and have leftovers for weeeeeeks.

Screw her.

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5. She Almost Killed Her

Once my mother-in-law was very drunk while she was holding my baby. It was in the middle of the day, and everyone was standing around. She was rocking her over and over again, and I started to get this terrible feeling, so I just grabbed her out of her arms. My baby was blue in the face.

Without realizing it, my mother-in-law had been slowly smothering her in the rocking chair with her sweater. I blew breath into my three-month-old baby’s lungs, and my mother-in-law was so offended that she ran upstairs and wailed loudly. No one said anything. No one admitted that what happened actually happened.

It was never spoken about again.She continues to drink at the same rate to this day. And no one ever questions her as a safety issue. When I was pregnant, she cried her eyes out when we told her. She basically said that I had ruined her life and her whole family. Sometimes I still cry thinking of those moments.

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6. Prozac

My mother-in-law thinks I’m a bad influence on my husband because I’m plus-size. I’ve gained some weight on Prozac, so I’m now on the low end of plus size. My husband’s whole family is rail thin.

Basically, my mother-in-law sat me down to say that they’re worried for my husband because I am a bad influence on his health. She didn’t ask or inquire about my health or my habits, she just let me know she doesn’t like it. She stated it like it was a fact.

I told her about Prozac, and I think she didn’t believe me. For context, I do yoga and strength training several times a week. My husband is less than 200 lbs, and I can pick him up off the ground. I’m always the one adding vegetables to our meals. He’s tall and thin, so he eats whatever he wants, never works out, but since I’m the one who’s not naturally thin, I’m “the unhealthy one.”

Apparently, my mother-in-law has been talking about this for months. My husband knew and never told me. Like a lot of women, I’ve dieted since I was a preteen. I’ve made myself sick from not eating for days. I’ve done everything there is to do. I have finally been working on accepting myself, and this feels like it’s set me back years. I’ve cried about this a lot. It was humiliating.

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7. Eviction and Covid-19

My mother-in-law and I have never really gotten along all that well, but we didn’t see each other often, so it worked. Cut to the pandemic, and my husband and I both lost our jobs, defaulted on everything, and had to move in with my mother-in-law. We put all our belongings into a storage unit that we pay for.

For the past two years, we have lived with her while paying what we can and trying to regain our financial independence. It has been hard. We both got new jobs and got out of about $45,000 worth of debt in two years. Meanwhile, she has consistently reminded us of how much of a burden we are to her. It has hurt my husband tremendously.

Then yesterday, my mother-in-law tested positive for Covid and didn’t tell us immediately. When we expressed concerns about being near her, she got so angry. She then told us she was kicking us out and that we needed to leave as quickly as possible. Of course, that’s kind of hard when you’ve been exposed to Covid. However, I spent the day calling apartments, and we found one that works for us. We applied online and got approved, so we’ll be moving out in about two weeks.

The problem now is once we move, we really think little-to-no contact will be the best option. She brings us down so badly and makes us feel like scum under her shoes. We are grateful for the help over the last two years but she has pushed us too far.

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8. Zero Trust

When my mother-in-law found out I was pregnant with my first child, she told me and my husband that she wanted to beat the hell out of us. She told him that he was stupid for getting me knocked up because he would be tied to me for the rest of his life … we were already married. Before that, she had been trying her best to break us up. After my baby was born, she then tried her best to harm her, in my opinion.

You see, I am allergic to everything. I can’t even sit outside in the grass without breaking out in hives. I have a severe allergy to citrus, etc., etc. The list of my allergies is too long to type here. When my daughter was about 3-4 months old, my mother-in-law wanted to give her catnip tea because she said she was hivey. I threw a fit and put a dead stop to that right away.

I told her and my husband that there was no way she was giving my baby anything ever. If by chance, my daughter had even a few of my allergies, they could hurt her. So I told my husband that if his mother ever did it behind my back, she would NEVER see our daughter again.

Needless to say, my daughter did not stay alone with his parents until she was old enough to talk and could tell me everything that went on while she was there.

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9. Lack Of Personal Hygiene 

My boyfriend and I just had a baby two months ago, and my mother-in-law doesn’t respect my boundaries. I’m very worried about germs, but she kisses my newborn on his face anyway. My sister even told me she caught her kissing him on the lip (a big no). She doesn’t wash her hands before she holds him. She comes straight into our room from outside and doesn’t wash or sanitize her hands. She also put A&D ointment (butt rash cream) in his hair without my consent!

Who puts A&D in a baby’s hair?! She also picks him up when he’s sleeping, which is selfish because he and I are both losing sleep! And she doesn’t put him back to sleep afterwards, so he’s fussy. My boyfriend asked her to start washing her hands before she held the baby, especially when coming from outside, and she got so upset.

She yelled at him and said it was going to be “hell” if she can’t hold him anymore. Now she hasn’t spoken to us or seen the baby since that incident last week. This morning I was on a Zoom call for work, and I asked my boyfriend to change the baby and bring him back so I could feed him.

He decided to bring him upstairs to his mom without telling me instead. I feel like she will continue to not follow our rules because he gave in so quickly. I don’t want her unsupervised with my baby until she can understand she’s wrong.

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10. Blaming Me For Cheating Husband

I am a 40-year-old mum 3 boys. An 8-year-old and 4-year-old twins. A couple of weeks ago, I found out that my husband had been having an affair. I only found out because he gave me a disease. This is relevant information. So in the last two weeks, I have seen my husband precisely once when he asked me how he could be sure that I hadn’t given the infection to him.

I told him to get out, and he did. He has left me and our sons with absolutely nothing. This week has been hard! I went to a food bank and think I have enough for my sons until my benefits are paid next Tuesday. I hope to goodness I have enough gas to heat the house until then too. The only people I have to turn to are my sister (that was a train wreck) and my MIL.

She has been on the phone everyday since I told him to leave. I am assuming he’s staying with her, but I haven’t asked. At first, I thought she was trying to be supportive, but I was wrong. She has been making noises about me taking him back, which I have been deflecting, but she outdid herself last night.

She told me that I was being selfish because men have different needs than women and that I should just forget about it and let him come home. After all, it wasn’t like he was going out drinking every night! I lost my mind. I asked her on what is planet having a drink was worse than cheating and giving your wife a disease?

I also asked her what sort of man ran away when confronted and didn’t even bother checking in on his kids or making sure they had enough food or heat. She told me I had to be a better wife. I told her to die in a fire.

I hope to god that I am raising my sons better than she raised hers and that I never become the sort of woman who makes excuses and blames others for her son’s failings.

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11. Not A Baby

This happened a couple of years ago. My MIL has a particularly virulent case of the baby rabies. She loves the babies. She wants all the babies – particularly girl babies, but any baby will do in a pinch. So when she came over to visit and saw me sitting on the couch, cradling a blanket-swaddled bundle, she just about lost her mind (what little there was).

She let out an ecstatic gasp and pounced, leaning over my lap with lips pursed in anticipation of getting some sweet, sweet baby-cheek as she tugged the blanket aside. Only to stumble backwards while making a sound like somebody just choked a goat.

See, we don’t have a baby. MIL knows this and has been told, numerous times that SO and I are staunchly childfree – she just refuses to believe it. We do have cats, though. One of them loves to play. His favorite thing to do, besides eat, is what we call the Sloppy Burrito. He jumps up in my lap, I cover him with his favorite blanket, and he will then roll up and around in it until he passes out from sensory overload (or rolls off my lap).

When MIL pulled back the blanket, it did not reveal an adorable chunky baby but rather an adorable chunky cat. And not his adorable chunky face, either. MIL almost kissed my cat’s butt. Why didn’t I tell her it wasn’t a baby? she demanded. Why would she think it’s a baby? SO countered. She thought maybe we were baby-sitting my best friend’s newest. Well, then why didn’t I stop her? Why was she trying to kiss some stranger’s baby without asking first? Who just kisses strange babies?

She just muttered something about being too excited to control herself and excused herself to the bathroom.

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12. Family Lunch

So background: My MIL and I have always had some issues. She’s divorced, single, lives alone, and recently moved across the state to be closer to my husband and our 8-month-old daughter. Now onto the story. Yesterday we went out to lunch with my MIL, my husband, and my daughter. Lunch was fine, food was great, we talked and got along just fine. I even hugged her goodbye. I thought all was well.

Then I get home and see she posted a picture of her, my husband, and my daughter on social media, with a message about what a nice lunch she had with just the 2 of them. I went to the bathroom during lunch, where she quickly took the picture of the three of them. (I totally understand wanting some pictures without me and would’ve taken the picture had she asked.)

I didn’t even know about the picture until I saw it on social media. And it honestly kind of upset me that she went out of her way to make it look like I wasn’t there. I didn’t mind the picture, just the sneakiness of taking it while I was in the bathroom and then not tagging me in the post about lunch like I wasn’t there.

So here’s where I get back at her. When I saw the post, I requested to tag myself in her “check-in” to the restaurant we were at and commented: “Lunch was great! I’m so glad the 4 of us could get together!” Admittedly it was pretty passive-aggressively addressing that she intentionally excluded me, but I think to anyone else, it just looks like I enjoyed lunch with my family.

She got so upset that I “attacked” her on social media that she deleted her whole profile.

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13. All About The Money

My MIL only messages or calls my spouse when she wants money. One holiday she called, no greetings whatsoever, and went straight to asking for money. She’ll only call when he’s at work like she doesn’t want me to hear her ask, but he tells me everything. One time, she complained to him how I’m just a SAHM. She belittled me about my anxiety, my therapy, my PTSD, etc. She said so many things that hurt me. I feel so judged.

She compared me with his siblings and their s/o all having jobs. I’m pretty sure she gets money from them too. I just feel bad for him because my MIL doesn’t call or message in concern for his well-being. Like she’s really not interested, or she doesn’t care about anything else but money. It’s like she looks at her children as walking wallets or bank accounts.

He feels that my mother is more of a mother to him than his mother. He doesn’t want to deal with her anymore & I feel so bad. I feel like I look bad to his side of the family. I feel that they probably think I’m stopping him from sending her money or dealing with her in general. But I can’t force him to, right? I feel like it’s like this because ever since we got together, it’s like he has more control of himself, of his life, and he is more independent.

I feel that she hates that. I feel that she hates how he chose me and not her. He said she’s been like that all his life, and he’s so done with it. He’s fed up. I’m proud of him for setting boundaries, but I just feel so bad. I cried so much that I asked him if he wanted to go back to his mom.

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14. Too Jealous

My ex-mother-in-law was a very jealous woman to the point of accusing her own daughters of wanting and flirting with her husband (their stepdad). She would kick them out of the house when they were just teens. At family gatherings at her house, she would make her husband stay in their room so the women wouldn’t look at him (even though he wasn’t much to look at, lol).

Well, me and my then-husband had to stay with this crazy woman for a short time. I have three daughters from a previous relationship (my then-husband was not their dad). From the moment my girls and I stepped foot in my mother-in-law’s house, things were weird. She had a problem with how my girls dressed. It was summertime, so their attire was shorts and tank tops.

One day we all sat down for dinner, and my oldest daughter got up to grab a cup to pour herself a drink. She had to reach up in the cabinet, and her shirt came up some, and you could see her belly. I noticed her husband excused himself to go to his bedroom, then the crazy woman’s attitude changed towards my girls.

She went from this loving, caring woman who had told them to call her grandma to acting like their very presence bothered her. Later that night, my husband came and scolded me for upsetting his mom. It was then that I knew I had to get out of there… It took me a month to get the money together and leave.

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15. She’s Ashamed I’m Pregnant 

I’m due my first baby in a few weeks, and if I’m being honest, my mother-in-law has ruined my whole pregnancy. Only a few days ago, her siblings found out I was pregnant at a family event and this was because they physically saw me. They even asked her why did she not tell them I was pregnant, to which she never replied.

When I told her I was pregnant, she asked me if was I sure her son was happy about it. She also asked me not to announce my pregnancy to anyone for a couple of weeks as she needed to get used to the idea of a baby. I was also selfish because I never told her of my pregnancy before I passed 12 weeks. She never asks how I am, she’s never called or texted me to ask how I have been, as I’ve been incredibly sick this whole pregnancy.

She’s really upset me, and I don’t know how I will be able to stomach her holding my child once he/she arrives. Like, will she be the doting grandma? Or will she completely ignore the fact my baby even exists? I don’t know which is worse, being honest! I don’t know what to do or how to behave towards her because I’m so so hurt. I feel awful for my poor baby.

Myself and my partner are both in our 30s so it’s not like we are super young having our first child.

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16. Excluding My Children

That’s basically it. My MIL, who is a nightmare for many reasons, has reached the pinnacle of bad behavior. She is planning a retirement party for my BIL in Los Angeles the weekend before Christmas. Everyone will be going to Disneyland together and then will have a family Christmas celebration together. And everyone is invited to come, except for my children.

They have specifically excluded my 4-year-old and 8-year-old from a trip to Disneyland and a family Christmas. Because it would be “too inconvenient.” The other kids in the family are going. Mine aren’t welcome. WTF?! I clearly, will not be going either. My kids are well-behaved, polite, and delightful. I’m ready to be completely done with them, but I don’t think my husband is. I’m so enraged by this whole situation.

More info for those asking: My MIL has always been a heinous B. The last time they visited, I commented on how I hoped they enjoyed time with my kids, to which she responded, “Meh. They’re kids. We’ll see.” They live a 20-hour drive away from us, so thankfully, we only see them twice a year. She and my FIL were emotionally negligent and borderline physically abusive to my husband and his brothers.

My husband is upset and offended too, but feels as if he should go to support his brother. He has been amazing in enforcing boundaries and sticking up for me and the kids. That said, he’s still learning what a healthy family looks like. He never knew what it was like to have unconditional, non transactional relationships until we got married and he met my family. Healing takes time.

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17. Not Good Enough

She never liked me, always thinking I was not good enough for her son (as my interest are not clothing and make-up like hers). It escalated when I got pregnant. Her first response: “You know that’s a big responsibility” (we had been living together for three years and were 25/27 years old). After our boy was born, she, on several occasions, ripped him out of my hands as “I was not comforting him correctly.”

She does not follow our “rules” for the kids (e.g, feeds them lots of candy on a “regular” day). She told me once that I should lose weight, as it was not good to be a chubby mother. When my boyfriend threw his 30th birthday, she was in charge of photography, and I’m not in one single of the more than 200 photos.

She recently yelled at me at a party, telling me to mind my own business (because I was cheeky enough to correct her when she claimed that our son could write his one name at 2,5 years old). I don’t know why I’m still bothering visiting. My presence is completely quiet, as I’m thinking, “If I don’t say anything, I’m not saying anything wrong.”

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18. My Girlfriend’s Mother Is Crazy

My girlfriend and I booked a four-day trip to Hawaii this upcoming fall, and my mother-in-law exploded. She doesn’t condone the two of us vacationing together if we don’t get separate bedrooms. She wants to be sure that we aren’t sharing a bed. She states that we should cancel the trip and show her receipts for all the refunds.

My girlfriend works part-time and still goes to school, so she can’t afford to move out of her parent’s home. Her mom has a homophobic history and has never wanted to get to know any of her daughter’s girlfriends, but has been interested in meeting past love interests that are men.

Her mother’s control has been an ongoing issue in our entire relationship. My girlfriend can’t even attend my family parties without my mother-in-law blowing up her phone and asking when she’ll be home. She texts her every hour to find out where she is (even if she’s just at the gym). She needs to know every detail about any plans she makes.

Eventually, we had to cancel the trip because my girlfriend’s sister gave her an ultimatum saying if she went, then she’d cut contact with her. I care more about my girlfriend’s mental health and ultimately decided it was best to not further any conflict until she’s free from their household.

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19. $30,000 For A Kid

My MIL is obsessed with having grandkids and is in complete denial that my husband and I aren’t planning on having any. The last time she visited, she stole one of my birth control pills, I guess thinking that I wouldn’t notice. And he’s not even her only kid! He’s just the only boy, so his sister’s kids wouldn’t matter.

She recently said she’d pay me $30,000 to have a kid. I say raise it to $100,000 and get back to me.

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20. Lying About The Cost

I am happily married now, however, my mother-in-law is a whole other story. After our wedding, my father-in-law’s health declined, and he went into a coma. My husband and I paid 100% of his parents’ expenses from the U.S. by working three jobs each.But my mother-in-law lied about the cost — she told us that her husband needed certain meds and would ask us to send more money. She would then use the money to fund local trips that she hid from us.

She ordered a new TV, microwave, fridge, and phone. When we visited India and asked her about the new items, she would tell us she got them in an exchange offer or that she’d sold her jewelry to buy them. My naive husband believed her. Meanwhile, my father-in-law was no longer in a coma but was paralyzed from the chest down.

When our kid was born, my mother-in-law insisted that we visit India so her husband could see his grandchild. He had a heart attack, and his health worsened. My husband was the only one paying the bills at this point, so we had to go back to the U.S., but my mother-in-law asked him to let me stay for mental support.

When I finally came home, I discovered that she’d stolen money from my bank account in India. She was having an affair and spending the money on her boyfriend. My father-in-law passed away, and she came to stay with us in the U.S. for a few weeks, at which point I finally broke down and told my husband everything.

I had proof and family members who witnessed her behavior and saw her with her boyfriend.

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21. She Hates Me

She starts with wishing my partner HB and next thing is, talking about her (inverted commas) financial struggles, trying to make my partner feel sorry for her. We are new parents, surviving the housing crisis, recession, post-pandemic, both working our asses off and super stressed.

She owns a house, a brand new car, solar panels, a good weekly pension, and received four times the inheritance from her “greatest and lost generation” parents and grandparents. Got divorced, hired the best divorce lawyer in town, got a great deal settlement…My story with her started soon after meeting her. Gossip is her lifestyle, religion, and philosophy of life, and she’s proud of it.

On the day of our wedding and after reading her MIL wedding speech loud and clear about how much she loved us, she did badmouth me with my best friend’s husband from childhood and my own sister in our wedding celebration. She left the wedding and left me her mobile with her Gmail opened and read a message she sent to my sister-in-law assuring her she suspects I’m mentally ill.

My sin: I’m a disorganised woman and too emotional. To be exact, she accused me of being bipolar (a month after my mother passed away). I’m not bipolar. I had a wedding a month after my mum passed away because my husband proposed and wanted to marry while we were overseas for my mum’s funeral. He thought that would comfort my family.

She has held our child twice. Literally.

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22. Imaginary Boyfriend

My hilarious daughter (5 years old) has an imaginary boyfriend. She talks to him on her pretend phone. She asked me to make the two of them popcorn. Young love, I guess. At the in-laws yesterday, she is gushing about her boyfriend, saying he is “berry nice.”

I asked her what her boyfriend looks like, and she replied, “Well…he’s black. And he has short green hair.”

My MIL looked like someone slapped her across the face. She said, “What do you mean he’s black?!”And my daughter added, “wif short green hair!” MIL flipped her lid over the race of my daughter’s imaginary boyfriend.

For real. I have been laughing about it since. I hope her imaginary boyfriend is also an atheist and/or liberal, because MIL’s head would explode.

Update: his name is Moa, and he likes his pound cake fried in a pan with butter and topped with whipped cream. Interestingly enough, how she likes it. Soulmates.

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23. Troublemaker

I’m pregnant. Last night, my husband was talking to his mom and mentioned the baby because he was so excited about an ultrasound picture I showed him. In the picture, the baby is clearly flipping the bird, which is also funny. He tells her about this, and her comment is along the lines of, “She’s gonna be a troublemaker like you already.”

Now, we don’t know the sex yet, but she’s insisting I’m having a girl. It’s a squish with limbs, but she’s set on a girl. Whatever. So he gets into talking about how when the baby’s older, he wants them to learn cars, because that’s what he does and how my gramps raised my mom. So it’s tradition.

Guys. My mother-in-law lost her darn mind. “I’M not having MY granddaughter be a little butch! She will wear pink and bows and dresses! None of that greasy mechanic stuff. She’s gonna be GIRLY!”

Uh no. HECK no. That’s where I stepped in and said, “Ok. First, it’s my kid, and my mom didn’t raise me girly, so I’m not forcing that on my kid if it’s a girl. Second, my grandfather raised my mom to know how to take care of her car, so she didn’t need anyone else to do it. So that’s what your son is gonna do for our kid, girl or boy.”

She apparently wasn’t hearing any of this because she goes, “Listen here, miss preggo, my grandbaby…” before my husband cut her off. Here’s where you are going to love him. He says to her, “Ma. Shut the heck up for a minute. Is it your kid?”

My mother-in-law says, “No, but…” “No. That’s right. It’s not. It’s our kid. Now shut up. We’re going to raise our kid how we want to. Not how you want to.” I love him.

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24. I Was Young And Naive

I married my ex when I was quite young and naive. We came from 2 different cultures, and when we spent time with his family, they’d always ask why he married me, his answer, I did it for the children (I’m a whole lot fairer than he is, and they would consider fairer people more beautiful).

After marrying my ex, the MIL started pressuring us to have kids. We didn’t start trying until a year or two later because I wanted to enjoy my time with him first. But the MIL kept asking for those grandkids. We started trying, but I just couldn’t fall pregnant. So my ex would have me go for endless tests to find out what’s wrong with me.

The doctors couldn’t find any problems with me, and eventually, they started saying my ex should come in and have some tests. When I brought this up, my ex refused, insisting it was me (he turned out to be an abusive narcissist, but that’s a story for another day).

His mother kept nagging. Then one time, she threw a big party and, in front of everyone, loudly said to me, “Where are the babies? I’m your mother. You can tell me if anything is wrong with you.” In a way, that implied, I’m the reason she doesn’t have grandkids. I was shocked and hurt, but at this point, I’d learned to hide my feelings and just laughed it off like she’d made a joke.

Another time her mother died, and when we came over to be with the family, her first words to me, in tears, were, “my mother waited so long for you to have kids, she just wanted to meet them before she died.” I guess we know where my ex got his narcissistic ways from.

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25. My Unstable MIL

Oh, man! I love my husband (and SIL!) but cannot fathom how he ended up so normal coming from my MIL. She’s not specifically crazy, so much as unstable.

A few gems:

1.) Called my mother a few weeks before our wedding to express her relief that we would “no longer be living in sin.” A little back story here, my FIL divorced her after she had a long affair. Those in glass houses…

2.) Less than 10 minutes before we were all supposed to walk down the aisle, she comes rushing back to tell me the toilet paper is out in the lady’s restroom and then asks me to go fill it. Sorry, MIL, I’m already wearing the big white dress.

3.) Recently flagged one of the wedding photos on Facebook as “offensive” because she “never liked how she looked in that photo”… five years after the fact.

4.) Continually insinuates that I’m fancy and she’s not good enough.

5.) May or may not have tried repeatedly to get on disability without having a real disability. Unless racking up huge credit card bills and demanding her children (one in college, another fresh out of college) to pay her bills for her counts as one.

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26. “Wedding Gift”

I’m engaged, planning on getting married next fall to my fiancee (we’re both women). We want something very small, we have a guest list of 11 people, and we want to wear clothes we already own. We have a mutual best friend who is helping us design custom rings, and we want a short ceremony where we just sign the certificate, and we’re done, followed by a meal at our favorite restaurant.

My parents transferred me $15,000, and her parents did the same. We did not ask for this. We both called our parents and explained that we were fine for money, but they said it was a “wedding gift,” so we thanked them.

MIL wanted to know how we were doing the outfits, and we told her that I’d be in a dress and fiancee would be in a suit. She has spent two weeks trying to convince fiancee to wear a dress so she will look “pretty” for the wedding.

My parents, meanwhile, have been nagging both of us about our guest list. We said small and intimate from the start, but they’ve given me expanded guest lists, which includes cousins/uncles/aunts I’ve never even met. When we tried to reinforce the “small and intimate” aspect, they brushed us off.

We met both sets of parents for lunch earlier. They said that there was a miscommunication and the money from her parents was actually a “dress budget” for both of us, meant to only be used on dresses, and the money from my parents was for “the guest list,” so it was meant to cover venue and catering for an expanded guest list.

We both went away from the table to talk. We discussed it and agreed that the money wasn’t worth it, so we brought up our banking apps and transferred the money back. Then we went back to the table, sat back down, and told them what we’d done.

They responded that we were acting like children, and we said that we wouldn’t be told what to do. My mum and my future mother-in-law promptly burst into tears, and both fathers looked pretty angry. They told us that the money was meant for us, and we said that we wouldn’t accept anything from them that came with strings attached.

We repeated that we had all wedding elements, including our outfits and guest list, already decided. We said it was final and we wouldn’t be taking suggestions, to which they said we were being unfair by not giving them a say. We then thanked them for the meal, put down a $20 each, and left without another word.

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27. She Made My Child Cry

Am I overreacting by not wanting to allow my MIL to feed my children anymore after this? My 9-year-old daughter became a vegetarian about eight months ago and takes it surprisingly seriously, given her age. For some bizarre reason, my MIL has a serious bug up her butt about it and hates that my husband and I allow it.

On Friday night, we had dinner with my husband’s parents, and she served spaghetti. It was a meat sauce for the rest of us, but when she gave my daughter her bowl, she said, “And a special veggie sauce just for you” all sweetly. Halfway through her bowl, daughter started to panic and asked MIL if she was sure there was no meat in the sauce. MIL insisted there was none. I took her plate to inspect, and sure enough, there was beef in her sauce. My daughter immediately began to cry.

I took her into the living room to calm her down while my husband confronted his mom. She at first insisted it was an accident, but after he established he didn’t buy that for a second, she admitted it was intentional. She said she thought by reminding her how delicious meat was, she would “give up that vegetarian nonsense. People are going to think there’s something WRONG with her.”

At that point, I insisted we leave. I was starting to seriously consider throwing the spaghetti in the her face but knew it would traumatize the kids. In the car, we obviously explained to daughter that there was nothing wrong with her and grandma was 100% incorrect. She seemed to have already come to that conclusion on her own, though.

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28. Stomach And Bladder Infection

My fiance and I got engaged two months ago. I still lived with my parents at that time because we were planning to get another place in another town. Then my fiance’s dad died, and that changed our plans. So I told my fiance that I’d be fine living with him and his family (my mother-in-law and brother-in-law) for now. I moved in.

Two days before his father’s funeral, I experienced a bad bladder and stomach infection that made it difficult to walk, but I tried keeping it together for the sake of the funeral. The church service was done, and the burial as well.

We went back to the church to eat, but at that point, I couldn’t walk any longer. My fiance then asked my mother-in-law if she could please hurry because I was in bad pain (we’d all driven in one car.) I had to go to the hospital but received medical care right away. They told me it was because I had eaten pork, which I’d never eaten before — my body couldn’t process it, and so it caused a serious infection in my stomach and bladder.

The next day at home, my fiance overheard his mom telling her friend that I was stealing her son and that she’d made pork tonight on purpose so I’d get sick. They had a fight about it, and suddenly she started screaming to him that “she’s a ****” and that I could’ve held in the pain for the eating part of the church service.

She proceeded to tell him that I’m fat and don’t even have a job (I’m currently studying) and I’m only interested in his money.

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29. The Jealous One

My boyfriend and I have been dating for over three years and living together for almost one year. We live in the same building at his mother.

My mother-in-law and my boyfriend are very close, to the point that she doesn’t have any friends nor is interested in making new relationships or having a life of her own. Her marriage is not good, and overall she is unhappy. She treats me nice, however, I do get the strong sensation that she is jealous of me and that she feels I stole her son away from her.

My boyfriend always tries to do for her the same things he does for me, i.e., if he gets me flowers, he also gets her flowers, if he gets me a gift, he gets her a similar gift, and so on. Which I find odd at times. She also makes comments like she would wish he would live with her forever, and if I get very comfortable petting her cat, he, later on, makes a “casual” comment about how that cat is “hers.”

My boyfriend has even told me he wouldn’t be able to move far away from her because it would “simply destroy her,” to the point that I think she would need to move in with us when we purchase a house. I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable moving her with us when I sense she has negative emotions towards me.

I asked him if she has ever felt jealousy towards another person and explained what I was feeling. He said it must be all in my head and that she would have told him.

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30. She Canceled My Doctor’s Appointment 

So I was scheduled for my annual gynecologist appointment. My gynecologist is a male, as I’m not comfortable with another female examining my private parts. He’s an amazing doctor, and my old-fashioned MIL doesn’t understand it. All she cares for is the fact that he’s a man who definitely must be a pervert to choose such a profession.

She has tried to step me up with her female gynecologist. I was very firm: absolutely not. I understand that the majority of women probably choose female gynecologists, but that’s not the case with me. This morning I arrive at the clinic only to find out I’m not scheduled. I was unpleasantly surprised and started to question the desk person, telling them that I had called and scheduled my appointment months ago. They explained to me that I called yesterday and canceled my appointment.

I was like — what? I see a gynecologist every year. Why would I cancel my appointment? My doctor has many patients, so I called and booked my appointment back in August already, and now I cannot get to him and have to wait 2-3 more months because suddenly I’m not scheduled.

Turns out, it was MIL who called, pretended to be me, and canceled my appointment. When I confronted her, she was like, ”See how smart I am! You have no business going to that lewd, pervert man. We, women, need to see women doctors unless we’re shameless [expletives] whose purpose for going isn’t really a medical one.”

Well, thank you, MIL, you have done me a ”great” favor. There were some pretty important things I wanted to talk about with my doctor. I’ll try to call him, as I have his private number, maybe he can somehow find time for me. If not, I’ll have to wait until December, at least.

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31. Making Herself At Home

It’s more of an ongoing living nightmare than a story.She moved in with us to downsize, selling her condo nearby because it made good financial sense, which translates to her blowing her nest egg on HSN and cruises a few times a year, which means she’s never leaving.

She rearranges all the dishes in the cupboard, dishwasher, all the food in the cabinets and pantry. She answers the house phone and refuses to pass it off to me or my wife without talking to whoever calls for 5 minutes first, downloads viruses on the family computer.

She burns food all the time when she cooks in the kitchen, stinking up the house and constantly setting off the smoke alarm, clips her toenails on the lazy boy in the living room, parks her car in the driveway blocking the garage where she won’t leave her car in there that she never drives because she says it’s too narrow, so I never get to use my garage or driveway to park my car when I get home and have to park it down the street because there’s never any parking available outside my house……It goes on, and on, and on.

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32. Destroying My Wedding Dress

Future MIL is very upset because my fiance and I are having a destination wedding. She complains constantly about the cost of her airfare, the size of the wedding, the guests that won’t be able to come… you get the picture. I try to limit her exposure to my wedding planning, though when I do this, she complains about how she’s being excluded.

She came over yesterday. She was complaining (as usual) and told me I’m getting fat. I need to watch the calories so I can “fit into my dress.” This delightful conversation was interrupted by my fiancee asking me to help him put a bed in the spare guest room together, so I left future MIL to her own devices.

About 40 minutes into assembly, I went to go take a bathroom break and headed into the master bedroom… and what do I find but future MIL struggling to yank my dress over her head. BUT IT WAS FREAKING STUCK. I blurted out, “Wtf?!” and she immediately started stammering, “Oh my God! OH MY GOD! OH GOD!”

At that point, my number one concern was her tearing the sheer backing of my dress, so I rushed over to help her. It was all for naught as she managed to scratch her way through the back of the dress and completely destroy the sheer material. She burst the side zipper of the dress and got a dirty footprint on the train.

I asked her, as soon as I got her out of the dress (and I note, with HUGE amounts of disgust, that she was wearing no underwear), what the in the world she was thinking. She responded that she was just trying to make sure the dress would fit me; because if the dress fit her, it absolutely fit me too. If it didn’t fit her, then I obviously had some work to do.

My future fiance is very disturbed by what happened. There was also a bouquet of dried flowers on the bed that wasn’t there before. I think she was actually trying to pretend she was the bride… which, for so many reasons, is so wrong.

She hasn’t offered to pay for any of the repairs to the dress. I have no idea how much it’s going to cost until I can get to the seamstress tomorrow. In the meantime, in lieu of an apology, she’s lecturing me on spending so much money on a wedding dress, and clearly, the trouble she had getting into the dress was a sign I should get something less dramatic and ostentatious.

It’s taking everything in me not to tell her to pound sand.

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33. MIL From Hell

Ever since I became pregnant, my mother-in-law has gone off the rails even further. Over the holiday, after behaving horribly to everyone and blaming my “female pregnancy hormones” when I gently stood up to her, MIL’s newest obsession is making sure we do NOT find out the sex of our unborn baby. Because if we do, we’ll “ruin everything” as “the first child especially absolutely HAS to be a surprise”.

Even so, it’s “definitely a boy” because “this family’s genes make boys” (except for, you know, my husband’s sister, and my two nieces…). But basically, she’s been berating us every time we speak to her to make sure we don’t find out the sex of our baby before it is born.

She also told all the extended family and her friends that I was pregnant between 8-10 weeks despite me begging her to keep it only between immediate family. Yesterday she randomly sent me a list of the top 10 baby names from the local newspaper to make sure we don’t consider any of them.

Spoiler alert: science says we CAN find out the baby’s sex, and despite DH’s supposed “boy genes,” we’re having a healthy little girl! Guess who doesn’t get to know this information?!

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34. Selfish 

Me and my mother-in-law go way back on our problems. She came to our wedding drunk, threw a fit at the wedding, and left us and my family to clean up afterward. I CLEANED UP AFTER MY OWN WEDDING. Then not even a month later, we got a letter in the mail that property taxes hadn’t been paid on the house we lived in at the time. It was her house, but we took over all the bills when we got married.

She told us that since we lived there, we had to pay them. It was a ridiculous amount, and it cost us all the money we were given from the wedding. It was sad because we didn’t get to use the extra cash on anything we had planned. Now it’s almost four years later, and I have a one-year-old baby. When I gave birth to my son, COVID precautions were still in full swing, and I could only have two people in the delivery room. I chose my husband and my mom.

But since my mother-in-law works for the hospital I had the baby, she threw a fit at the administration and came into the room anyway. My baby was born at only thirty-two weeks, so it was a high-stress situation. I just wanted her out of there. She was bossing doctors around even though she’s just an ultrasound tech.

Then she threw me a baby shower that I didn’t even want to have because my son was in the NICU.

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35. Elizabeth

I’m currently pregnant. My MIL got off the phone a little while ago with my fiance. MIL was trying to convince my partner to name our child Elizabeth after her mother. Which I hate, and so does he.

He gently let her down because he says the more firm you are with her, the more combative she becomes. I’ve only met them a handful of times since they live out of state. So she called me to ask again, but I’m 22 weeks pregnant and am in no condition to BS people.

She said: “You know it would mean so much to me if you were to name my grandchild Elizabeth.”I said: “Didn’t he just tell you no? Isn’t that what he said? (She tried to interrupt, I cut her off) Did you think if you called me with your sickly sweet voice that, I would somehow cave? Because I can assure you all your doing is tap dancing on my last nerve.”

She said: “Well, I feel I should have some sort of say in my grandchild’s naming!”

Side note, this woman has bullied her other daughters-in-law into naming their children names she has picked out.

I said: “Your feelings are irrelevant, you are not the parent.”

She said: “I’m the grandmother!”

I said: “Yes, the parent of one of the parents. ‘Grand,’ once removed, know your role. You can visit, dote on, spend time with our child as we, as her parents, deem acceptable. But please do not think your job is to raise our daughter because it’s not. So, no, you do not get a say in what we name her. It’s strictly between me and her dad.”

I continued: “Is there anything else you want to say? I’ll take that as a no and just say goodnight. And then I hung up.

I might have been harsh, but with all I’m going through, I just don’t have the patience. I’m fine. I said what I meant, and I truly meant what I said.

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36. Birth Certificates 

On Saturday, my husband and I went to visit my mother-in-law’s house for my sister-in-law’s 50th birthday. While there, we get on the topic of birth times. I ask MIL what time my husband was born. She said she would check the birth certificate. She leaves and comes back with a small lock safe. She pulls out her birth certificate, BIL’s, and SIL’s.

Mind you, SIL is BIL’s wife, not their sister. MIL asks my husband where his birth certificate is. He says I have it. She asks me why I have it, and I answer, “Because it’s with all of our important family documents.”

MIL: “But it should be here, with the other family documents.”

Me: “Well, having it at our house means [husband] doesn’t have to drive three hours here and back to get it, in case he needs it.”

MIL: “Why would he need it?” Me: “Because it’s his birth certificate?”

MIL: “No, it needs to be here with the important family documents. So does yours, Christine.”

Me: “Oh, that’s okay. I’d rather have it with me in case I need it…To get a passport or my social security card.”

MIL: “Well, I guess you can bring it after you get those things.” So SIL changed the topic, and things went on without incident for the rest of our visit.

But today, my husband got a text from his mom asking when we were going on our trip. When he said we weren’t going on a trip, she asked him why I needed a passport then.

My husband said I had used that just as an example. So then she texted me and said, “Christine [husband] said you didn’t need your birth certificate right now. Please bring it with you when you come next. And bring [husband’s]. Thank you.”

So I responded: “I thought a lot about what you said Saturday, and I think you’re right. So I’m actually taking my birth certificate and DH’s to my mom’s to be kept in her important family files.”

No response from MIL, and our birth certificates are going to be staying right here at our house.

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37. No Boundaries 

My mother-in-law, we will call her Ashley, drinks pretty heavily. About two months ago, Ashley and my mother started to hang out. Ashley was being inappropriate towards my mom, but she insisted she wasn’t “like that,” so it doesn’t count.

Well, one night, they were hanging out, and Ashley started drinking a lot. My mom was drinking, too and I and my boyfriend walked in on them kissing.

I scolded my mom, and she did her part to make it up to me. My mom quit drinking and apologized multiple times, and even agreed to never hang out with her again. I’m still a little upset at the situation. But Ashley did nothing. She blamed my mom and did not apologize.

So, I have been refusing to talk to her or go over to their house. And she said that I was a bad person. Two weeks ago, it took a turn. My mom was having a barbecue and invited my boyfriend’s dad and stepmom, who she gets along great with. His stepmom is her hairdresser and her workout buddy. But she didn’t invite Ashley since she thought it would be awkward.

Ashley took offense and said it was wrong for my mom to not invite her. My mom even said we could have another barbecue with just her. Later that night, my boyfriend called me crying, saying that Ashley was calling him, me, and my mother names. She called me stupid, a even some racial slurs. She called my mother dumb as well.

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38. No Earrings 

Recently my 10-year-old son expressed a desire for an earring. He had been mentioning it since he was six, but this year, he started asking for it more persistently. So I thought he’s not going to let this go, so it’s better if I take him to a piercer and do it sterilely and safely. He only wanted one ear pierced, it looks good, he’s content, and to my husband and me, that’s the most important thing.

And that tiny piece of jewelry made MIL go ape. Yesterday he went to visit her alone, and when she noticed the earring, she started yelling and scolding him for it. First, MIL thought he did it himself because there’s no way a parent would allow their son to do it, and she didn’t believe that I took him to the place. She was like,” What will your mom say about this?” He said, ”Nothing, she took me to the piercer.” And MIL was like, ”You’re lying! Don’t lie to your grandmother!”

She tried to shame him about having the earring. She was like, ”But you’re a boy. Everyone in the school will laugh at you because you look like a girl now. You’re not a girl, are you? So you shouldn’t be wearing girls’ accessories!” Then MIL demanded that he took it out. He refused, and she was like, ”Okay then, I’m going after my belt. Looks like you haven’t been spanked for a while!”

MIL chased him through the entire house, but he’s too quick for her to catch. He ran out of the house, took his bike, and cycled straight home. He told us everything and said that he doesn’t want to visit grandmother any more because she’s acting like this. I called MIL. She was still looking for him and asked me where he’s at. I said that he’s home already and won’t be coming back anytime soon because she’s making a fuss out of nonsense. Also, she has no right to hit him.

She responded that letting him have an earring is “turning him into a criminal and a girly boy.” Um, okay? I honestly couldn’t even follow her trail of thoughts. How can an earring make you a criminal? How can it make you look like a girl?

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Recently my 10-year-old son expressed a desire for an earring. He had been mentioning it since he was six, but this year, he started asking for it more persistently. So I thought he’s not going to let this go, so it’s better if I take him to a piercer and do it sterilely and safely. He only wanted one ear pierced, it looks good, he’s content, and to my husband and me, that’s the most important thing. And that tiny piece of jewelry made MIL go ape. Yesterday he went to visit her alone, and when she noticed the earring, she started yelling and scolding him for it. First, MIL thought he did it himself because there’s no way a parent would allow their son to do it, and she didn’t believe that I took him to the place. She was like,” What will your mom say about this?” He said, ”Nothing, she took me to the piercer.” And MIL was like, ”You’re lying! Don’t lie to your grandmother!” She tried to shame him about having the earring. She was like, ”But you’re a boy. Everyone in the school will laugh at you because you look like a girl now. You’re not a girl, are you? So you shouldn’t be wearing girls’ accessories!” Then MIL demanded that he took it out. He refused, and she was like, ”Okay then, I’m going after my belt. Looks like you haven’t been spanked for a while!” MIL chased him through the entire house, but he’s too quick for her to catch. He ran out of the house, took his bike, and cycled straight home. He told us everything and said that he doesn’t want to visit grandmother any more because she’s acting like this. I called MIL. She was still looking for him and asked me where he’s at. I said that he’s home already and won’t be coming back anytime soon because she’s making a fuss out of nonsense. Also, she has no right to hit him. She responded that letting him have an earring is “turning him into a criminal and a girly boy.” Um, okay? I honestly couldn’t even follow her trail of thoughts. How can an earring make you a criminal? How can it make you look like a girl? OrangeMintsb

39. Sugar Daddy

I am half white and half Asian. My dad is Dutch, my mom is Singaporean (Chinese). We’ve been living in the US for almost 20 years now, and we moved when I was five. So, I met my boyfriend’s mom a few weeks back, and it went okay, I guess.

A few days ago, however, I found out she’s Facebook stalked me and found a picture of me with my dad at a black-tie event. I was holding his arm. The Asian features really came through with me, so I don’t really “look” like my dad. We meet again, and halfway through the conversation, she casually goes, “So, where’s your sugar daddy?” The conversation stops. I’m just like, “I don’t have one?” She pulls up my Facebook profile and shows me the picture with me and my father.

I just laugh it off and explain that’s my dad. She then asks me whether I was adopted. I again laugh it off. She lets it go for a while, but she brings it up again! “Well, I hope your dad did a DNA test when you were born.” At this point, I’m just like, what is up with this woman? Maybe I just had a really sheltered upbringing, but I’ve never met anyone who was this brand of weird.

I tell her very plainly that I don’t appreciate her insinuating that my mother cheated on my father, and then I left. That night, I get messages from my boyfriend saying, “I took a joke too seriously” and “She was just making fun of the fact you don’t really look that much like him.” Yeah, bud, I don’t think she was joking. I don’t think she was joking at all.

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40. My Husband Is A Hero

MIL is here this week to look at retirement communities near us. She came in yesterday afternoon, and we met her at the airport. First question out of her mouth when greeted by her son, daughter-in-law, and only grandchild: “Why didn’t you get a sitter?”

We tell her there was no need. We thought she’d like to see our daughter (and our daughter has never not been with one of her parents or close family friends, so why would we get a sitter?). MIL responds that we’re “spoiling that girl”, and something about “This is how she’ll turn out like (me).” I blink. “I hope so. I am her mother.” MIL makes a noise and finally looks at me.

She knew I was pregnant. We told her. But I don’t think she really absorbed this until she saw me. I am a small woman. I just am. And the husband is a big guy who makes big babies. So, it is obvious. MIL has to have another jab. “Well, she won’t be spoiled when you have that one. Don’t you people believe in birth control?”

I have no words. I look over at my husband. This is the sort of situation we’ve discussed. In detail. But he is already handling it. He has a paper out and is writing down an address. It’s her hotel. He hands it to her and puts down her bag. She looks at him like she is crazy. Asks what he’s doing. “That’s the hotel address. For the cab.”

She says she thought we were taking her (we were going to get a cab with her, do the dinner obligation, and then I was going to avoid her as much as possible for the week- which with how she is and the plans, would be easy). Husband answers, “You made it clear you wouldn’t want to be with (Me)and your granddaughter. You will not be rude to or about my wife. You will not be rude to or about my children.”

She stares at him, mouth open. He goes on, “I am going home with my family. There is a nice restaurant at (cross streets) near the hotel. Get some dinner. We will see you tomorrow to look at the places. Have a good night.” She has no time to reply. He puts his arm around me, and sort of guides me and the stroller out.

I love this man.

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41. The Wedding

Oh Lord, where do I begin? I guess with the wedding…She disapproved of me marrying her son (he was 32 at the time).

She and my FIL wanted to help us financially with the wedding but wanted to have their input on it. We wanted to get married in South Carolina so that some of my friends could come and also bc we had a cool locale in mind for the ceremony.

She said no because she didn’t want her son to be seen in society marrying me. Should be noted that she is not one of those people in high society.

So instead, we got married in Michigan and had none of my friends in attendance. She was going to do the cake. She planned the three-tier type of cake, Lemon.

I said no, nobody likes your lemon cakes. We wanted chocolate cupcakes. She just about lost it at that one. She had a temper tantrum, and so we “fired” her from the wedding planning. We had chocolate cupcakes, and they were beautiful.

She said she didn’t think cupcakes could be beautiful. Didn’t like the dress. Fortunately, she didn’t have to pay for it or wear it.

Probably disapproved of the flowers. I don’t remember. Edited to add that she didn’t like the date that we decided on for the wedding, said it was “inappropriate” (IIRC, I think it was Memorial Day Weekend, also planned that way for out-of-state guests).

We changed the date; that was also inappropriate, and the one after that. We finally settled on an otherwise meaningless day in June 2004.

I don’t remember much more about the wedding other than she was trying to turn it into her own wedding, and she disapproved of just about everything. She’s done other things. This was just the wedding.

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42. She Almost Killed My Daughter

My three-year-old daughter has several severe food allergies. Peanuts and eggs are the worst. She also can’t have dairy or bananas.

MIL is super obsessed with my daughter. This is our only child and MIL’s only grandchild, so I try to be understanding.

I’ve encouraged a relationship between them. I’ve never actually left them alone, though. I can’t explain exactly, but it just didn’t feel right.

She’s offered to babysit but let it go when we declined.MIL has always doubted my daughter’s allergies. She’s insisted that her princess of a granddaughter could never have something wrong with her.

However, she’s never “tested” to see if it’s true… until today.MIL was overplaying dress-up with my daughter. I had a horrible headache, so I asked her to watch my daughter so I could lie down for an hour.

She agreed. Twenty minutes later, I’m woken up to MIL shrieking that there’s something wrong with the baby. I go running to daughter’s room, and she’s gasping for breath, and her lips are turning blue.

I scream at MIL to call 911 and use an Epipen on my daughter.My daughter was able to take a deep breath, and I noticed she smelled like banana.

The paramedics show up (we live about a mile from a fire station), start an IV, and give daughter meds so she can breathe. I tell one of the paramedics that MIL fed my daughter something.

He found part of a cookie on the floor. He confronts MIL, who confesses she gave my daughter a peanut butter banana cookie, but she didn’t know it would hurt her.I text my husband and ride to the hospital with daughter.

They admitted her for observation, and he met us there. MIL called him, wailing about how she was just trying to show us nothing is wrong with our daughter. We’re just too paranoid and have such odd ideas about her health.

She admitted to my husband that she’s been making allergen-laced cookies for more than a year. She bakes a huge batch and freezes them.

She puts one in her purse every time she sees daughter just in case she gets a chance to slip it to her.I can’t even wrap my head around this.

Daughter is asking when MIL is going to come see her. She wants to show gramma her pretty bracelet (hospital band with stickers on it). I’m so devastated right now. I never suspected MIL would do something like this. But don’t worry: we’re filing a police report.

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43. Manipulator And Liar

My MIL is a master manipulator and liar. She would say horrible things to me whenever we’d be alone, and when I’d later call her out for those things, she’d manage to twist my words or straight up lie to the point that nobody would ever believe me.

For years it was maddening to the point that I only really spend time around her because its the only way to spend time with my wife’s siblings, whom I adore. Well, this weekend, my wife, MIL, FIL, and some of her siblings and other relatives were over there, and BIL brought over the game Secret Hitler.

For those who don’t know, its a social deception type game where players are on two separate teams, Liberals and Fascists. One of the fascists is Hitler. This information is hidden except that the fascists know each other. So it’s basically a game of liberals trying to figure out who the fascists are while the fascists secretly try and cause chaos and get Hitler into power.

Well, in this particular game, we were taking our turns and arguing about who was who, and MIL immediately started to turn the table against me. I was a liberal in this game, so it was obvious from the way she was playing that she was a fascist trying to take me down.

Eventually, a few rounds later, MIL made an uncharacteristic mistake during one of her lies to the table and flubbed a minor detail. I jumped on it and was able to then prove to the entire table that she was a fascist. The table agreed, and I was able to use the “assassinate” mechanic in the game to eliminate a player.

So in my moment of triumph, I stood up, made a finger gun motion at MIL, and said, “You are literally Hitler,” and “eliminated” her. In the game, if Hitler dies, the liberals win.

Well, MIL was Hitler, so we won. MIL stood up, threw her cards on the table, and stormed off to her room, where she spent the rest of the night sulking because she got proven a liar in front of her family. So very, very satisfying.

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44. It Was Good Until It Wasn’t

My MIL was a darling until she wasn’t.

It all started prior to the wedding and then continued even after. She is the type of person who wants to know everything we do, think, speak with people, where we go, and how much we stay where we go. It feels like giving a daily report of our activities. If I refuse to tell her, she thinks I’m keeping secrets from her. I just want our privacy and life to be ours.

Here’s the thing, I want things to stay between myself and my husband, but he is also at fault because he tells her stuff. I told him that if he continues to do that, I’ll stop sharing information with him because, clearly, he doesn’t know what boundaries are.

Back to my MIL, I also blocked her on FB, and I pretty much ignore her, and I don’t make conversation with her. In a few weeks, we’ll be at an event together, and I plan not engaging with her.

We are moving next month, and we’ll be a few hours away from her. Will this sharing of information to her ever stop? I sometimes feel that I’m the crazy one, and everyone is giving me the impression that in this whole mess, I’m the culprit for not accommodating and doing what she wishes.

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45. Promise Ring

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend told his mom that he had given me a promise ring while he saved enough money for an actual engagement ring. He explained to her that it was a promise to marry me in the future.

She pretended like she didn’t hear him at first, so he said it again. The second time he said it, she replied, “Oh really? Let me see?” in a super high-pitched voice.

I was on my period at the time, and I’d finally found a comfortable position on the couch where I was pretty much pain-free (almost cramp-less), so I handed the ring off to him on his way to the bathroom, and he handed it to her, and she looked at it for a bit.

The second that he closed the bathroom door, she put it on her ring finger! It didn’t fit, so she proceeded to put it on her pinky finger — the only finger the ring fit on.

Now mind you, I’m a curvy, plus-sized gal that dresses well and wears whatever I want when I want. She’s made negative comments about my appearance before. She outright disrespects larger people as if she herself doesn’t have a gut.

So it was funny to me that my ring fits me but doesn’t even fit her pinky because she’s always called me big behind my back. By the time my boyfriend had gotten out of the bathroom, she was back to just looking at it.

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46. “My Baby”

I’ve always been polite and respectful of my husband’s mom, even though I didn’t like the way she parented. From the first day I met her, I knew she was a “smother,” and my husband was a momma’s boy. Now we’re married, and we had our first baby in August 2021. My mother-in-law has been a nightmare ever since.

She would kiss the baby on the face and mouth constantly, even after I told her directly not to. If my baby would whimper or cry in the slightest, she would say something like, “Oh no, what’s wrong, my baby?” or even take her from me. If she fell while playing or bumped her head or anything, my mother-in-law would make remarks like it was my fault.

And so this brings us to the latest thing. We just went on vacation and sent my mother-in-law some pictures in which my (pale) baby had some red cheeks. I wouldn’t call it a sunburn, but we were outside all day, and her cheeks got a little red.

My baby had multiple applications of sunscreen and wore a hat. My mother-in-law acted like I just left her out in the sun to die. And EVERY DAY since, she has texted me to put sunscreen on her or not leave the house.

It gets under my skin so much when she says, “How is my baby,” “Is MY baby okay?” The “sunburn” didn’t affect her at all, but almost every day, my mother-in-law asks, “Is my baby feeling better today?”

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47. She Gave My Child Covid

We just had a baby, and my mother-in-law wanted to live with us. Despite my request that she come after September, when I would be going back to work and the baby would be older, she came right away. She came to our house after traveling in multiple states along the east coast for a month.

Three days afterwards, we all got sick, including my infant. The baby got a fever in the middle of the night, and we rushed to the ER. The baby had Covid. Later, my baby recovered from the fever but retained a lingering cough. We all got tested, and we all tested positive for Covid. I felt so sad that after all the care I gave to my baby, he still couldn’t escape from Covid, all because of his grandma’s insistence.

The day after we moved to our new house, she insisted on visiting again. But we had just moved! I was exhausted! My significant other just couldn’t bring himself to tell his mom to wait until the next day. This visit was the same as the last, she insisted that she must come live with us in July.

And, of course, she pays for nothing. She does cook, but one meal a day, with only one dish. To make matters worse, she doesn’t help with the baby. Well, that’s not true — she held the baby a couple of times, and coughed on him, and gave him Covid. 

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48. Stealing My Chemo Bottles

I’m fighting cancer for the second time in my life. I was first diagnosed when I was 14, fought it, and won. I lived a happy and peaceful life until recently, when surprise! I’m 30 years old, and I’ve got cancer again. Fortunately, it’s treatable, but we need to move fast. I had surgery, and now it’s time for chemotherapy.

The doctors decided on oral chemo that I can take at home. I try to do as much as I can, but my wife has been amazing; she doesn’t care at all that I don’t help around the house as much as I did. The other day MIL came over to visit (she knows about my diagnosis).

I was on the couch reading, and my wife was doing something around the house. MIL walked over to me and was like, ”Look at that! Lying on that couch as if you’re on the beach! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself — a grown man and lying down in the middle of a day while your poor wife is working as a slave!”

I said, “I just had chemo, I have a headache, I’m nauseous, I don’t feel good.” She was like, “You cannot cure yourself with those chemicals! Nature products only!”

The next day I was going to take my chemo as scheduled. But as I walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinet, there was no trace of my chemo bottles. I asked my wife if she moved them by any chance, and she said no. Then my wife remembered that just before leaving the day before, MIL had asked to use the bathroom.

She could have easily taken the bottles with her, considering her words about the toxicity of chemo. My wife turned into a dragon. She was literally almost spitting fire as she got dressed and stormed out to go to MIL’s house, I had never seen her so mad before.

She came back half an hour later or so and told me that she demanded my medication from MIL, and MIL admitted she took my chemo and threw it out. Obviously, it’s gone, we cannot search through every garbage bin in the city, but just the fact that she did it, blew my mind.

My wife and MIL had a huge argument, and MIL really thinks she did me a favor. She was like, “Don’t you see he’s dying, don’t you see how fragile he’s become? It’s not cancer that’s killing him, it’s those pills! I got rid of them, I saved your husband, and that’s how you thank me, by insulting me? Better go and buy him some herbal teas!”

I explained everything to my oncologist, and he prescribed me more. We now keep them under lock and key.

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49. She Abandoned The Kids

My MIL always complains when she isn’t asked to babysit when me and my husband looked for someone to babysit the kids. To me, this was an ongoing issue, and at times, years ago, we did ask her, but she always had other plans.

Well, this morning, I woke up to a swollen and bruised knuckle on my right hand, it hurt a lot, and could barely do anything with my hand because it hurt too much. My husband decided to take me to get it checked out, but being so late to call around to ask someone, we asked my neighbor (a close friend of mine) to watch the kids, but she wasn’t home, I checked with my mom, and she couldn’t do it. So my husband asked if he could ask his mom, I told him to have a backup plan if she said no.

Turns out she said yes, my husband didn’t mention me but just told her we had an emergency and needed her to look after the kids. I’m surprised she actually agreed to help out. And thanked her when she arrived.

Me and husband were gone for two hours, when we got home, we found my friend in the living room with the kids. She told us MIL showed up at her door the moment she got home, half an hour after we left, and asked our friend to watch over the kids because she has been unexpectedly called into work.

MIL has no job, so I think she just got bored and expected to leave when she wanted to. She didn’t even bother to tell us she was leaving either, which is what I find even more annoying.

Not long after, she called my husband and tell him to pay her for watching the kids. My husband let her know she wasn’t getting paid, and staying half an hour and expecting other people to watch the kids was unacceptable. She offered, she should have stayed.

This caused MIL to freak out, she told him we were both being selfish and should be thankful for her being there when we needed someone. She didn’t do anything wrong. My husband told her if she saw no fault in her actions, then she no longer could see the kids or us, and until she realizes her mistake, don’t contact him.

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50. Open Relationship

MIL is a witch. I don’t mean that figuratively. She identifies as a witch and “curses” people. Just a very eccentric person. My husband and I have an open relationship. What we do is entirely between us, and it’s nobody’s business.

This is important. We BOTH have other partners. In November last year, MIL moved without telling us that she was coming. We got the call from her after she’d set herself up in her new house about thirty minutes away from us. Her proximity and lack of anything to do with her life gave her the opportunity to spy on us, and over time, she saw many of our “guests”.

For some reason, she thought they were all mine and could never have been my husband’s. So she comes to my husband saying she believes I am cheating on him at Christmas. He laughs her off and told her that it’s not like that. I think his explanation went in one ear and flew out the other.

What she then did was set up a Facebook profile using pictures of her friend’s son. She messaged me as this dude. Basically went on for a while, and then proposed we hook up. He’s a cute guy, my husband agrees. So I set up a meeting at Starbucks.

Imagine my surprise when I arrive with my husband and find MIL waiting for us with printouts of all our messages. She waves her proof at us, doubles down on me cheating on my husband, and only stops when the staff ask her to leave. The argument moved to the sidewalk, and we all got very loud.

Finally, my husband and I drove off and left her still yelling because she’s just stupid. That was a week ago. Today she called to let us know she’s going to put a hex on me to make sure I leave her baby alone and stop ruining his life.

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51. Haters

We started dating when we were 19 and decided to go to university in the same city. She has a powerful empty nest syndrome, one child is already lost forever and will spend its life being the horrible dork he is, but my husband always told me it was his lifelong dream to escape them. So he did, and it’s being frowned upon.

They’re his parent, and they hate their son for being smart, nice, and successful. It’s not always stuff like alcohol in my family that’s destructive, his mother, a nice catholic lady, basically does everything she can to rip his life to pieces.

We’re a happy couple together since like nine years, two years married, and (fingers crossed) everything is great. We both started new nice paid jobs, we are slowly paying off the loan for our apartment, have a bunch of friends, hobbies… and this is what his family hates. They hate us both. Wow. Because we’re independent. We don’t need anything from them – money, advice.

MIL is an extra toxic person hidden under the face of a nice fat, aging lady, but she criticizes everything about us. I’m at a point I don’t care anymore, but my husband…it cracks me up to see how often he is sad about their rude behavior.

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52. She Controls Our Finances

Me and My husband have had a rough patch in our marriage, we’re still together but living separately (he and his mom are at mine and his house, and I’m staying in the car in a parking lot). This has been going on for about a week now.

My father died two days ago, he was my very best friend. Even though he went through addiction, I still looked at him as my hero, my mom was gone my whole life.

I tell my husband what happened and that I would like to buy a plane ticket to go to his funeral on Thursday and say goodbye one last time. He told his mom, and she said no, that I’m not allowed to spend of the money. Because what if SHE needs my husband to buy her something (after bills and everything is paid, we have a limit we’re allowed to spend together for that month.)

Well, I just found out he bought her a brand-new car that she’s been wanting. He spent ALL THE MONEY we had saved to buy her a new car. Like every last penny. She face-timed me bragging about it, told me the price of it, laughed, and then said, “Awwww, I’m sorry you can’t go say bye to your daddy.”

Laughed even harder and then hung up. I’m so heartbroken because not only that I can’t go say bye to dad, but I have to come up with the money for a divorce. I have no idea what to do, I’m so lost right now, and I want to give up.

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53. Pathological Liar

I caught my mother-in-law in a major lie. My fiancé and I have been together for eight years, and I have always felt that she doesn’t like me.Back in May 2020, he had a plan to propose to me, which involved taking a trip. He had told his mother of his plan, and the day before we were supposed to leave for our trip, she suddenly came down with appendicitis.

We obviously canceled our trip. She had surgery to remove her appendix, and my partner picked her up from the hospital and took her home. Since it was Covid, no one could be in the hospital with her.

I found out her lie because I worked at a doctor’s office, which she attended. Well, the emergency room faxed over the report from her hospital stay. When I handed the report to the doctor, I told him that she’d had her appendix taken out.

Ten minutes later, he called me into his office and corrected me. He told me that the report said she had gone to the hospital for back pain and that there was no surgery. I kept this to myself because I didn’t want to upset my fiancé.

Then the other night, she called with major stomach pains and cramps, so we took her to the ER, and low and behold, she had appendicitis! I asked the doctor if the appendix can grow back because she had her appendix taken out in May 2020. Her face turned white, and my fiancé had to walk out of the room.

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54. Fun Debate

I gave birth to twins a month ago. They are not identical but look very similar. As of right now, I’m the only one that can really tell them apart because I spend 24/7 with them.

MIL is visiting for the first time since their birth. She’s been here for almost a week. I’m tolerating her.

Today I was putting the twins in their swings when MIL leans over and starts to examine them like they’re Area 51 aliens. She points to Twin B and says, “This is Twin A.”

I say: “No, that’s Twin B.” “Impossible, that’s Twin A. She’s got (insert random trait Twin B has that Twin A doesn’t).”

“You’re thinking of Twin B, which is who you’re looking at.”

“You’re wrong, Twin B has (insert trait neither of the twins has because this woman doesn’t know what she’s talking about).”

“I think I know my children, MIL.”

“I’m telling you, this is Twin A.”

Ok, MIL. If you say so.

Then my toddler comes over and points to Twin A and says their name. I tell her she’s right. MIL rolls her eyes. This is going to be a fun debate for the next few decades.

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55. Interrogation

I had a cringe pregnancy announcement because of my mother-in-law. It went something like this:Father-in-law and mother-in-law came to our yard for a barbeque. My husband was in the yard wearing an “I’m going to be a Dad” shirt. It took them a moment, but they realized what was happening.

It was 3 p.m. on a Sunday, and I noticed right away that my mother-in-law was beyond wasted. So the following questions/comments ensue:

“How many times did you have to try before you got pregnant?”

“What day did you conceive? Especially what day, I need to know.”

“Did a certain position do the trick?”

“Try your best not to gain too much weight, I lost weight when I was pregnant.”

“Does your mother even care that you’re pregnant?”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“What are you going to name the baby?”

“When did you stop birth control?”

And finally, she said, “I can’t believe you did this behind my back,” in a very angry voice, followed by tears.

Then she cried for 25 minutes, saying, “I’m going to hold that baby so tight” over and over. She was too upset to eat after that, so they left.

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56. Skipping My Son’s Funeral

I started dating my boyfriend five years ago. I did not meet his family for the first handful of months, so by the time I did, we had been seeing each other for a while. The only things they said to me were snide comments about my tattoos/appearance.

The next time I saw his mom, she pretended like I didn’t exist. Over the next three years, during which time we’d see his family on holidays, I was able to express to my boyfriend that I felt his mom didn’t like me and went out of her way to be rude to me.

Fast forward to October 2020, when we found out we were expecting our first baby. My mother-in-law dropped off a Mother’s Day gift with presents only for my partner and our baby. I didn’t expect anything else, so I wasn’t shocked.

When I eventually gave birth, and we brought our baby home, I made every effort to make sure she could spend time with him. She started being kind, so I let her in. Then at three months old, my son died of SIDS, and all her kindness disappeared.

The morning of my son’s funeral, she called my partner. She was upset that I did not want our 10-month-old nephew at the service. She called me all sorts of nasty names, then proceeded to skip our son’s funeral. We went no contact for a while, but my partner is aware I planned on staying no contact for good.

Well, we are now pregnant again, and she’s weaseling her way back into her son’s life. I refuse to let her be a part of another child’s life after the way she disrespected my son.

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57. Screw Her!

My MIL wrote her son a letter a week before we got married, telling him to think very carefully about what he was doing, as he needed to be sure he was marrying someone he loved and trusted. (We had been together for six very happy years at this point! )

She later walked out of our wedding in tears, drove home (7 hours away!) without saying anything to anyone, and then followed that up by emailing me saying she didn’t know what husband (her son) saw in me.

I refused to have anything to do with her until she apologized to me, it was a lovely year of no contact with her at all. But then I got pregnant, and she came crawling back. We have built a relationship of sorts now, though I feel on her part she still hates me but doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the detente we’ve reached in case we don’t let her see our daughter anymore. (Which I would never do, I want my baby to love her granny even if I think she’s the devil incarnate)

I still don’t let her babysit, though. And 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. Screw her!

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58. She Was Happy That My Sister Died

Ever since my husband and I married and wanted to start a family, we realized that we’re having a problem with conception. After seeing many doctors, it turned out that we both have some fertility issues, and it’s highly unlikely for us to have children together.

Half a year ago, my sister and her husband died in a car accident. Their car collided with a truck that went into the opposite lane, killing them both instantly. They left behind three children whom my husband and I got custody of. They’re 11, 7, and 1-year-old.

And my MIL thinks this is the best thing that could have possibly happened to me and my husband. When she heard that the children will be living with us now, she looked overjoyed and was like, ”It’s so great, it’s so great! It’s so amazing how life always fixes everything!”

Excuse me, MIL, what’s so great? That three small children lost their parents? As if my sister should have died so that I could have her kids. MIL’s excitement about this whole situation just makes my blood boil.

She was like, ”You couldn’t have children, and then God gave you some! You should be happy too! That’s more than great! Now you can raise them, a house full of kids if the best thing that can happen to a person.” I’d rather stay childless my whole life and have my nephews and niece be with their real parents than have children this way when they’re in my care because their parents died.

And then she said something that made me almost smack her across the face. ”And you should tell them to call you ‘mom.’ You’re their mom now, and they need to understand it. Especially the youngest one.”

It’s like she doesn’t consider the children’s feelings at all, she thinks it doesn’t matter to them who they live with. I’m sure they’d prefer thousands of times to live with their parents, not us. They’re still mourning. Have some respect!

My husband is mad at her too. Maybe she thinks she’s going to have grandkids now. Well, no. First of all, because she’s no one to them, and secondly, because her priorities are all mixed up.

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59. Purchased The Tickets Without Asking Us

My in-laws invited us to go on vacation to visit my husband’s extended family on the other side of the country. We politely declined, telling them that we were planning to visit some really good friends for our vacation that year.

My MIL asked if we’d made firm travel plans yet, we said no and that we were waiting for our tax return to buy the plane tickets. Her response was, “Then there’s no reason you can’t go with us because we bought your tickets to fly out with us!”

She legitimately thought it would be okay for us to change our vacation plans just because they’d purchased our tickets without asking us first.

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60. Slapping My Wife In The Face

So about a year ago, my wife and I found out that she was pregnant with twins. We were very excited, and so were all our parents. The pregnancy wasn’t easy; my wife went through such severe morning sickness that we weren’t sure she’d be able to continue the pregnancy. She’s a trooper, though, and got through it.

After 20 hours of labor and an emergency C section, she gave birth to a healthy boy and girl. Until this point, my mom had been entirely supportive of the pregnancy and excited for the birth of her second and third grandchildren. However, her demeanor changed entirely when she saw our babies.

For context, I am a light skinned black man, and my wife is a very fair white woman. When our babies were born, they didn’t look black (they were just… pink? like most newborns?).

My mom decided that these couldn’t be my children, and my wife must have cheated. She walked up to my wife, who was feeding our daughter, and slapped her right across the face in front of me, my in-laws, my dad, and a nurse.

Everything descended into chaos. Security came and cleared the room until CPS, and the police could do an investigation. That meant my wife, who had gone through a terrible pregnancy and birth, had to be left alone just hours later without me or her parents until an investigation could be conducted. It was horrendously traumatic for her and still affects her to this day.

Since then, my mother hasn’t been allowed around to see my kids, but she calls routinely and leaves messages that switch between apologizing and screaming obscenities. My in-laws have been over a lot to help with the babies and have told my mom to screw off a fair number of times. My wife never wants to see her again, and I don’t really want to either.

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61. Obsessive Behavior 

My mother-in-law is obsessed with my husband and son. It’s to the point that she has said she wants to see us every day to be a part of our life. If I use anything of my husband’s, she gets angry.

So now she emphasizes that anything she gives him is only for him, even if it’s just as simple as a phone charger. Then with my son, she deliberately will ignore what I ask her not to do and tells me very sweetly that she’s going to do it because of her own reason.

If I’m doing something, she will hover over my shoulder and keep asking for my child. Or if she has him and he cries, she won’t give him back when I ask. She ignores me.

She has called my son my husband’s name by “accident” and acts like I’m supposed to just hand him over every second. She also tells me what he likes best as if he’s not my child. My husband advises me to speak up, but I feel like I’m at constant war.

If I’m alone with her, she’ll do it more openly, but in front of him, she acts innocent. If I try to say something, she acts like I’m crazy.I just want her to leave us alone, but she keeps trying to persuade me to leave my baby with her and go on a trip or leave to go have “me” time. I don’t want to, and she keeps pushing.

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62. Rearranging Everything 

My husband and I went on holiday not long ago. We left his parents our key so that they could feed the fish and water our plants. When we arrived back home, we were exhausted from a long flight followed by a drive to the house.

It was two in the morning when we finally got in. When we opened the front door, my jaw dropped. Our living room had been totally rearranged. Then I walked through to the kitchen/dining room. There was a new, hideous dining room table where our old one used to be. Then I went to our bedroom. It, too, had been rearranged! I was livid.

So we were, at 2 a.m., rearranging our whole house back to normal. And that was not the worst part. I cannot stress enough how literal I am when I say that we went on to find that every single shelf, cupboard, and drawer in the house had been gone through and reorganized as well.

It took days for me to put everything back.

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63. Toxic And Inappropriate

Sorry for this long post. My MIL and I used to have a wonderful relationship then she got a divorce, and it just went downhill. As I took her “favorite” child from her. My husband and I got married during COVID, and she made the wedding about her while also telling us we’re selfish for getting married when not all her family could make it.

My husband and I just wanted to be married and did not want to wait, there’s been a few instances in between, such as her telling me that I can’t take care of my husband after she had a few too many drinks. Along with saying he’s her favorite child (has two other siblings) and that he’s her everything. Then she came to tell my mom the same thing, and they had an argument.

Currently pregnant with our first, then comes my very intimate gender reveal, which she then ended up yelling at me for because her family was not invited, and she was upset she’d have to tell everyone the gender through a video. Continued to tell me I was unloved as a child and that’s why I did not understand her “love” for her son.

Background on this: she’s made comments about his size and made small inappropriate comments along those lines. After this, I have blocked her and gone no contact. She has not reached out to my husband, but my BIL mentioned to me she is spiraling out of control and was upset because he “took my side” about the gender reveal.

She’s angry because my husband doesn’t put in effort for a relationship with her, but he’s always felt suffocated by her and feels she’s toxic, but she constantly reminds him she did “everything” for him (as a mother should??) and he should worship the ground she walks on.

My SIL then insisted on hosting my baby shower to ensure that MIL would be comfortable attending. But after speaking to my BIL, I’m not sure I want her in the baby’s life. She’s so toxic and at this point unstable, but I truly don’t know how to go about this to my husband.

I’m also afraid and worried about my baby shower as I know it’s a recipe for disaster. I also know if I do not invite her, it will only become a larger issue, but at this point, I am terrified of what she’ll do to my baby or even me.

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64. “Ugly Pictures”

My husband and sister-in-law have been overweight/obese since they were kids. His mother has been a size six her entire adult life. MIL has always used food to replace affection and shame them. There have been times we visited when she immediately lectured my husband about his weight in regard to their family history of diabetes, then proceeded to push fried food and sweets on him the rest of the visit.

Last year, tired of struggling to lose weight, my husband decided to get bariatric surgery. MIL made this big show of how she was going to visit and “take care of him” after the surgery. Cool.

A week before the surgery, we go to see a comedian near her city, two hours away, and come right home, because my husband is on a pre-op liquid diet, tired, and not up for socializing.

The day before his surgery, she calls him and tells him she’s upset he came to town without seeing her. He calmly explains why we didn’t visit. She then throws in that she’s also upset we didn’t see her for Easter a month prior, to which my husband points out she wasn’t even in town for Easter. He goes for surgery, and I keep her updated, everything goes well.

That Friday, when she’s supposed to visit, she tells him she’s in the ER with strep throat and sends a pic of a hospital admission bracelet with no date on it. He calls, but she doesn’t answer. That Sunday, she sends him a pic of her painting her house.

The next week is Mother’s Day, which is a tough day for me because I’m estranged from my own mother and deal with infertility. He calls her to wish her a good day, and she says she’s upset I didn’t call or text her.

She actually says, “I know ShootHerCleverGirl doesn’t talk to her mom, but she can wish ME a happy mother’s day!” During this entire time, she stops “liking” our pics on Instagram. She starts texting my husband pics of weight loss surgery patients with loose skin, saying that’s what he’ll look like.

My husband is losing weight and posting sweaty progress selfies from the gym on Instagram. She texts him, “Do me a favor and stop posting those ugly pictures of yourself.” My husband stands up for himself, “I’m sorry you don’t like the pics, but my wife, my friends, and I are proud of my progress and how far I’ve come.”

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65. “Karen”

I think my MIL has some mental health issues or is a straight-up Karen.I’m not going to get into the specifics, but she is terribly entitled and flips out on people all the time for reasons that make zero sense. Like she will get mad at people for following the exact instructions she gave them. She’s that customer who will send an entire table of food back because one thing wasn’t the way she wanted it.

As a DIL, I can’t change her, I tell my husband, and he is sort of defensive for her or tries to stay out of it.If I’m being honest, I want her out of my life, as I don’t want our future kids to see her behavior and imagine that it’s ok to treat people the way she does. At the same time, I would never do that to my husband.

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66. Apathic People

I became very ill just after marrying my husband. My in-laws kept telling me, “Get up and take a walk, you’ll feel better,” and “Maybe you just need to get out of the house.” They’d deride me if I missed a family gathering, they’d ask me to babysit their granddaughter when I was too sick to care for myself and my kids, and they’d complain that I wasn’t bringing money into the house.

Never ONCE did any of them, his two sisters, his brother, his sister-in-law, his nephews, his mother, or father EVER help me out when I was too weak to get out of bed.

Thing was, I felt very badly about not being able to do all those things as well, and on top of it, my doctors kept calling me a hypochondriac. With the moving among cities we did for my husband’s job, I went through 23 doctors (each move got me a rheumatologist for “fibromyalgia,” an OB/GYN, and usually two GPs) before being finally diagnosed with celiac disease and thyroid disease, about 14 years after first falling very ill. That didn’t mean anything to them, they still saw me as a ne’er-do-well.

I was never listened to in conversations, I was always ignored and interrupted. Nobody ever looked me in the eyes during a conversation. It was just awful being at family gatherings.

After being diagnosed with celiac disease, they would invite us and our kids to dinner and just tell me “to bring a plate,” so I could join them at the dinner table without their having to make any arrangements for me to actually eat their food. Even at Thanksgiving, which is very easy to adapt to gluten-free cooking.

So if I want to bring a plate of Thanksgiving dinner for myself, I have to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal. We just quit going after his parents died a few years ago.

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67. Interesting Person

I have a nonexistent relationship with my MIL. Technically, she’s not yet my MIL, but my GF and I have been dating for three years and share an apartment and a dog together. Her mother lost her job in January, and everything would’ve been fine, but she doesn’t save money, so she ended up living at our place, on our couch, for four months, affecting my GF and I’s relationship.

She’s a very interesting person, I believe she may be bipolar and is a heavy drinker. She recently moved into some person’s basement until she gets her first paycheck, but I am currently taking care of her dog. She keeps mentioning that he’s our dog now because her dog and ours get along.

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68. The Rich Grandma

My mother-in-law asked my wife how much my mother makes. This is not a usual topic of conversation in our family, so my wife made up an arbitrary number of $100,000 and told this to my mother-in-law.

Well, about a month later, my mother-in-law came back to my wife and said, “There is no way that your mother-in-law can make that much money.”

Apparently, she had called my mother’s place of employment and asked if anyone made more than $100,000. She claims that she was told by my mom’s work that no one makes that much money.

She finished this explanation by saying that she was glad that my mother didn’t make that much because she “wanted to be the rich grandma,” and it was her job to spoil the kids.

To make matters worse, she can’t be “the rich grandma” anyway. Because as you can imagine, that status is hard to achieve when she has no money and doesn’t even work!

This woman is crazy.

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69. Wedding Night

My husband and I had a destination wedding in the Bahamas. My MIL is notoriously cheap and would only fly down for two nights, so she arrived the day before our wedding and went home the day after.

On our wedding day, there was no official reception, but our group of about ten people sat outside for the rest of the afternoon, drinking and generally having a good time.

Fast forward to that night: husband and I finally get to our suite around 9 PM, and we’re excited to enjoy our wedding night together, alone. Around 10 PM, our room phone rings. It’s my MIL, demanding that my brand-new husband come down to the lobby and watch a fire-eating performance or something with his mom because “I’m leaving tomorrow, and I think it’s very selfish of you not to spend time with me tonight.”

My husband explained that it was his wedding night, and he wanted to spend it with his wife, which prompted his mother to snap, “Oh, give me a break. It’s not like tonight is extra special – We all know kittensandblow is no virgin.”

I have lots more, but that one is my favorite because it really set the tone for things to come…

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70. An Alcoholic

My mother-in-law is an alcoholic. Easily drinks 18 beers in the course of a night. Every time she and her husband come to town, they stay here (because we have the most room).

I’ve asked her multiple times NOT to drink too heavily while staying out here due to the fact that she a) Stays up until 8 am drinking and being loud. b) Constantly tries to wake up my 8-month-old daughter (her granddaughter) at all hours of the night because she ‘wants to give her a hug.’ NO WAY is anyone that drunk going near my daughter. c) When she’s drunk, she thinks she is everyone’s psychiatrist.

The last time she came out to visit, she first got drunk and then began to yell at me, calling me a ‘spoiled brat who ruined her son’s (my SO) life.’ Everyone that was there then proceeded to yell at her, including my SO.

After that little spat, it was complete silence until she burst out crying and screaming, ‘EVERYONE SHUT UP. I WANT TO TALK TO MY SON! I NEED TO TALK TO MY SON! I WANT TO TALK TO MY SON DON’T YOU ALL UNDERSTAND!?’ and screamed that for a good half an hour.

Everyone just looked at each other. I got sick and tired of this and yelled back, ‘WE GET IT BUT WHAT YOU DON’T GET IS THAT NO ONE IS TALKING TO YOU, ALCOHOLIC’. I was the bad guy for the next few weeks.

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71. A Toxic Woman

Shall we tally the horrible, ridiculous things that my mother-in-law has said to me? Let’s. She said that she gave birth to my son.

She has called me fat multiple times. I weigh 110 pounds, and I am 5’5″. She interrupts me when I’m talking about politics because she seems to think it’s “not appropriate talk for women.”

She told me that it’s too bad my husband didn’t marry my best friend instead. She told me that no one thought my husband and I would make it. She threw holy water in my son’s face after she found out we weren’t having him baptized.

When I was pregnant, I woke up from a dream where I had a miscarriage. I was about 20 weeks along. She came into my room and saw me crying and having an anxiety attack. She said, “I once had a dream that I miscarried at 20 weeks. The baby died.”

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72. The Cheater

I’m bi, but I’m in love with my male fiance. My MIL, having known about the bi thing since before we got together, is convinced I’ll cheat on him with a woman, despite us being together for three years and me not so much as looking at another person in this time.

About a month ago, I met his cousin, a straight woman with a boyfriend, and you know when you meet someone, and you immediately know you’ll be friends? It was like that.

We’ve seen each other twice since the initial meeting, one with fiance there and then the other day when we went shopping and got coffee without him. She took a picture of the two of us sitting on opposite sides of a table at Starbucks, posted it on the book of faces, and tagged me.

Tonight my fiance then shows me a message from his mother. “Honey, I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you have a right to know. [My name] has been unfaithful and has betrayed you in the worst of ways. If you need me, I’m here.” Then she sent the photo of me and the cousin.

She tried to tell my fiance that I am cheating on him with his straight, committed female cousin. He replied with three cry laughing emojis and a reminder that the woman was his cousin. Instead of bowing out graciously with what little was left of her dignity, she then doubled down, saying, “I didn’t want to have to do this but here,” and then sent him a photo of me with an older blonde woman who she has never met.

This woman was… drum roll please… my half-sister.

My fiance thinks this is the funniest thing in the world, and I have to agree. Not the first time she’s done something like this but definitely the funniest. Fiance says jury’s out on whether he’s inviting her to the wedding or not because, like I said, this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this.​

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73. The “Always Right Attitude”

My wife’s mother is a horrible individual. She goes out of her way to belittle me in front of people. She does not like me and has made it very clear. My wife will very rarely defend me with anything she says. It’s gotten to the point now where I just stay away. Missing family functions or get-togethers, as I hate being around her. She argues with everyone about anything and everything, and she’s “always right.”

My son, awhile back, was diagnosed with cancer. (Years ago, he’s doing amazing now). She tried to tell me that I don’t feel about him like she does because she is his grandmother, and I will never understand. As if we were having a who is more sad competition.

I just don’t know what to do anymore, honestly. Talk me off a ledge.

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74. Opening A Credit Card In Son’s Name

My sister-in-law got married in September. Everything probably cost around $15,000-$20,000. We knew that my SIL and new husband probably got a substantial amount of help paying for the wedding. This was after my MIL told us they wouldn’t be paying a thing for our wedding (3 years ago).

My SIL husband did tell my husband a couple of days later that my MIL paid for almost all of the wedding. When my husband told me that, I was kind of floored but thought oh well, that’s life.

But then, yesterday, my husband gets a letter in the mail from a collection company. It seems like it can’t be right because they say he owed about $8,000 on a credit card he’s never seen before. He called their number, and the company said they would cut him a deal, and he’d only have to pay $5,000. He thought it was a scam, so he hung up.

He then called the actual credit card company and found out the card was real, and it was in his name, but it hadn’t been paid for several months. The address listed on the account was his parents’ house 400 miles away, and he hadn’t lived there for at least six years.

He called his mother yesterday, and she denied knowing anything about it. When he said he would just have to report it as theft to the police, his mother’s demeanor changed completely, telling him he shouldn’t go to the police and should just take deal to pay off $5,000. She said something about “there’s a good chance I was the one who opened the account and probably had a secret shopping habit.” He told her insisted he was calling the police.

At that point, she finally confessed to taking the credit card out in his name back in January “but only to pay for the wedding.” You see, she wanted her daughter to have her dream wedding but knew they couldn’t afford it.

My MIL couldn’t afford it all either, so they took a credit card out in my husband’s name so that they could make the dream wedding happen. She then told my husband to just pay the bill so that my BIL wouldn’t be mad about it and to not call the police.

My husband hung up without saying a word and told all of this to me. Then he called the cops.

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75. The Center Of Attention

She made our wedding a completely stressful, sad, and disappointing day. She completely ignored my family during the dress rehearsal and then made snide comments to them at the reception.

She told the wedding florist that we had decided not to go with the flowers my wife wanted and picked the ones she wanted instead. She told the wedding coordinator that we had scrapped several key elements to the ceremony, so they didn’t happen.

She stuck her tongue out, put bunny ears on my wife, and generally didn’t cooperate for any of the wedding photos. She said “no” and kept talking to her table when I asked for everyone’s attention to give a toast.

She apparently had been bad-mouthing me to my wife’s whole family for our entire relationship, and during the wedding weekend, she told them that I was controlling because I stood up to her when she tried to control my wife (she just went behind our backs and did what she wanted, anyway, so not that it mattered).

She flat out just didn’t do any of the things she volunteered to help with. She was rude to my guests, who tried to introduce themselves to her. This all culminated in us having a screaming match the morning after my wedding.

The rest of the family is scared of her. They talk about her behind her back and then suck up to her face-to-face. They sided with her at the moment, but then told us after that they agreed with us.

My wife didn’t speak to her family for about a year after and barely has a relationship with them now, especially her mom. I don’t have a relationship with them at all. It sucks for them because we’re pretty awesome to hang out with, and they’re missing out on a relationship with my amazing wife. Their loss.

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76. MIL From Hell

My (now ex) MIL told me my ex-husband cheated on me because I wasn’t being a good wife and giving him children (something he knew from the beginning I didn’t want and was fine with). Later he used that as his excuse for not just cheating but having two children with other women, then being shocked that I didn’t want to help him get full custody of them and raise them as my own.

My current MIL is my dearest friend, and I adore her as well as my SIL.

However, my FIL, while not as bad as the ex-in-laws, still bugs me. He talks to my husband two or three times a year on the phone and sees him maybe twice. When he does, he only talks about how much money he gives to his other son (my husband’s stepbrother) and how great the golden child is.

The stepbrother dropped out of college, lives with his mom with, his girlfriend, and new daughter, and my FIL is so proud of him. Then he said I’m not as much as family as the stepbrother’s girlfriend because we took so long to get married, and he didn’t actually see us get married. (We had a small courthouse wedding with a couple of friends and a backyard bbq at my SILs house. He was invited but couldn’t go because he had to babysit the grandbaby).

I feel more sad for my husband because of how his dad treats him, but his mom makes up for it in spades. His dad lives 30 minutes away, and his mom lives 4 miles away, and we see her at least six times a year for about a week at a time and talk to her every other day.

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77. She’s Bullying My Son

So we live with my MIL for economic reasons it has worked for the past ten years mostly because she was never really home before. She worked in home care and did a lot of overnights. Well, that all stopped with COVID, and now she’s home ALL the time. She has manic depression and drinks a lot.

My son is 16 he is on the autism spectrum. She has worked with kids and adults with different disabilities for a long time, but she doesn’t seem to understand her own grandson. She’s very passive-aggressive and treats him badly, but she sees and acts like he’s in the wrong. She will then go out of her way to avoid him and basically play children’s silent treatment games with him.

She says things to him like, “You don’t even like me,” and ” You are a coward if you talk to your parents about me.” Then last night she came home and told him that she’s moving out of state and she doesn’t know what “you all” are going to do!

Ya, she hasn’t said anything of the sort to my husband or myself about that. What kind of “Nana” does that to a kid?!!

Needless to say, we are moving ASAP.

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78. Constant Gifts

My son is four months old. I’m very intentional about the products coming into our home and the baby’s life. This means looking for the safest items, gender-neutral and organic clothing, as well as non-toxic and educational toys. We also try to limit the number of unnecessary items in our home.

Well, my mother-in-law could be considered a hoarder. Every room in her home is packed with stuff.

Every day since my son was born, she has bought him something. Her entire guest bedroom is filled with baby clothes and toys (most of which he won’t even be able to use until he’s older). On top of all that, these products are nothing like what we kindly requested.

My husband has nicely told her to stop several times, but there is no end in sight. Today, she bought him a jogging stroller (after we just bought him one — he doesn’t need multiple), a basketball hoop, and a scooter. It’ll be years before he is using a scooter!

We’ve tried to tell her to clear things with us before buying them, but it makes her mad. Any time I try to tell her the reason I prefer specific brands or products over another, she makes comments about my “expensive taste.”

I’m a veterinarian who worked very hard to be where I’m at. So if I want to spend my money on items I feel are best for my son, I can. It’s getting to a point where I’m super angry and resentful.

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79. Creepy Woman

There is a LOT. My MIL is a narcissist who we ultimately cut off all contact with. It was a REALLY nasty year-long fight in which she did some horrible things. But far and away.

The creepiest….I found out about this after the fact from my two best friends, who had zero reasons to lie to me. They hadn’t met my MIL prior to our wedding and always said they thought I had blown her antics out of proportion and, after this, apologized. As clearly, I was not exaggerating.

So on my wedding day, while I was taking pictures with my brothers before the ceremony, MIL wanders in. I didn’t invite her to do any bridal things because, quite frankly, we had zero relationship at this point. She wanders into the bridal dressing area where my two BFFs and bridesmaids are and plops down. Then she has this conversation.

Hear this in Linda Richman’s voice (WAAAAY back SNL mike Meyers character.).

“I can’t get over how good-looking my son is. He is just so so handsome. I sometimes wish he wasn’t my son. We could be TOGETHER then. Having relations with such a handsome man. I would have relations with him.”

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80. We Cut Her Off

The last few months have been rough. Near the end of last year, we lost the house to a freak accident. We lost almost everything we owned. It’s just been a really stressful time for my little family of four.

We were out for a school recital when we received a call from a neighbor, and we returned to find the house in flames. The fire department tried to save what they could, but the damage was really bad. We ended up selling the property and moving altogether because the repairs amounted to essentially rebuilding the house.

I have been married for ten years, and my MIL has never liked me. I always believed that even if she didn’t like me, she’d help me in a time of need because I was the mother of her two grandsons and the wife of her son, and I made them happy. I was wrong.

On the night of the accident, we needed a place to stay temporarily, at least until we could have a few moments to breathe and get our bearings. My husband suggested we stay with his mother for the night. It was late, and it made the most sense to us both.

We drove over to the house. My boys were half-asleep in the backseat, and we left them in the car when we went to speak to MIL to explain what was going on. She was very sympathetic at first and said she had no problem with my husband and my sons staying, but I would have to make other arrangements.

My husband lost it with her and began to yell that she was being unreasonable, and she refused to budge. In her words, I wasn’t true family, and she’d never blessed our marriage in the first place, so I was not her responsibility.

We left and spent the night in our car, and we got a motel the next day. She began calling and inviting us over to stay again, and she said that she’d graciously permit me to stay in the garage for a few days.

Again, we didn’t take her up on the offer, and my husband told her that she was being very disrespectful. My MIL got very angry in response and said that we were spitting on her generosity. She then offered to keep the boys so that they wouldn’t need to stay in a motel while we put our lives back in order.

Again, we rejected her offer. We heard nothing from her for a few days until we learned that she had been badmouthing me to people. She was claiming that I was tearing the family apart in this time of need with my grudges. From her point of view, she’d opened her house to us in an instant, and I’d turned her down and forced my husband and sons to live in a cheap motel because I didn’t like her.

My husband set the record straight, but MIL did not ease up. She made an official complaint to the fire department, claiming that I had caused the accident purposefully to destroy the house and force the current situation. She said that I was money-hungry and had designs on her house, and this was all part of my plan to steal her house from under her.

I was taken in for questioning, and I understand why due to the nature of the allegations, but I was cleared of everything as the investigation proved it was an accident.

The shining ray of light through all this has been that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back for my husband. We agreed we didn’t want her in our lives anymore after these incidents, and we cut contact with her shortly before moving to our new place. She has been trying to get our address from family members, but she hasn’t had any luck just yet. My husband made it clear that he’d have no problem cutting off anyone else in the family who gave her our address or contact information.

If she can’t support us when we’re at our worst, she doesn’t deserve to be there when we’re at our best.

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81. Stubborn And Mean

So I moved to Kentucky for my boyfriend, and we had to stay with his mom for two months. I transferred through the post office, and when I got here, the job was awful.

I was walking uphill 8-10 miles a day with stray dogs chasing me. I was going to keep working there until I figured out a new job, but then his mom kept telling me I should leave because it’s unsafe, and she’d support me no matter what.

So I leave, and then I’m jobless for a week until I find a life/health agent job which requires a license. So for a month, I study and get my license. She then tells my boyfriend that I do nothing and she doesn’t want to be around me. She doesn’t include me in anything anymore and, quite frankly, hates me.

She is very stubborn, and I’m afraid she’ll never accept me for who I am, regardless of what job I do.

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 82. The Will

My MIL wants us to have children, and we won’t. My husband finally told her about his vasectomy, which seemed to shut her up for a while.

Well, yesterday, MIL told us all that she had purchased a burial plot for her and FIL and how she’s pre-planned a funeral and wanted to start working on their long-term medical requests and power of attorney docs.

All good things! Then she starts to tell us about her estate. FIL tries to change the subject, but no, no, we have to talk about this as a faaaamily. Well, MIL gets this smug look on her face and then goes on about how their estate will be divided up, which basically gives my husband almost nothing because we “don’t have children, and the money is to support their family line.” Her face when my husband and I both nod approvingly at this…It was priceless.

I’m fairly certain she wanted us to fight back, or cry and make a scene, or beg her for money. She controls two of her children with money but not us, and it drives her nuts. She sent my husband an email last night “apologizing” for her decision and giving him a “method of communication” about this without me involved.

100%, she was trying to get him to beg her for money or change her mind. So, he popped me on the email and responded, “Mom, we both want you to enjoy your money and have a happy and secure retirement. This is your money, you can do whatever you want with it, and we’ll never criticize you for your decision.”

The rest of her kids are already fighting over their bones, but not us. I’m using good manners as an insult.

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83. “Those Kids”

We have been in very low contact with MIL for a little while now, but every time we do see her lately, she has something to say about my pregnancy. She tried to tell me what day to have my child as if I could actually choose when I go into labor. Then she tried to tell my husband and I what to name our child and insists we are having a boy (we have decided to not find out until the baby is born).

The worst of all is she insists I’m going to not make it through the birth and thinks my husband is going to let her raise our kids! The same kids she refers to as “those kids” and not her grandkids or her son’s kids.

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84. She’s Annoying 

She’s really annoying. She’s not helping with any planning. Not helping with vendors or notes or any type of organization. I feel she shouldn’t have much say.

She’s mad because we sent out our save the dates but didn’t include someone on it because they didn’t give us their email. We’re not going to delay or save the date because of one person. And her worry is “they’re going to compare notes and get upset,” that is not my problem.

She comes from a big family, and other cousins are getting married around that time, and I feel like she’s more worried about competing with them than making sure my fiancé and I are happy. She also wanted us to retract our save the date because she felt our no kid wording is unclear.

We also have one cousin that we’re close to that is a kid, so we worded our invite very specially so people wouldn’t be upset if they saw them there but couldn’t bring their own kids.

Also, she keeps telling us the phrase wedding party is confusing, and that we should change everything to wedding entourage. Like, that’s so lame, and wedding party is a universally used term.

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85. The Crazy Cat Lady

This isn’t the worst thing my MIL has done it’s just something that drives me crazy…I’ve been with my now husband for five years now, and I’ve had a cat for that whole time. I got into a situation over the last couple of years where I ended up with a lot of cats, but now I only have two.

My MIL and his youngest sister only see me as a crazy cat woman. Every gift has something with a cat on it. My SIL got me a litter pad to a Breeze litter box (which I don’t own) and two of the arm and hammer cat order eliminator things just randomly. Now they were talking about some cat toys that “I would love!”

Like no. I’m sure my cats would like it, but I don’t get anything out of it. It just drives me nuts that my MIL knows nothing about what I like and thinks that because I have cats that it’s my personality. I like to draw, I like to cook, I like music, I like anime, I like decorating.

Get me something practical, please. I feel like it’s gone on for too long now that it’s weird to say something. I don’t know how to go about it or even if I should at this point.

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86. Favorite Child

My mother-in-law, in my opinion, has a favorite grandchild. My husband’s brother had their first child while my husband and I were struggling with infertility. The entire family was over the moon when he was born, including my husband and me.

After my nephew was born, my in-laws constantly made snarky comments about us being childless. The worst being when my mother-in-law told me that maybe we’d get pregnant if we didn’t let the dog sleep between us. This came a few days after a failed IUI, so the comment really stung.

After three years, we were blessed with our miracle baby. Our son is now seven months old. I thought after having our son, his grandparents would show him the same level of love. However, I often feel like that is not the case. It started out with small things, like my son being called a “mama’s boy” because he is exclusively breastfeed.

Then for Easter, my in-laws gave my son a set a pajamas and gave my nephew a sandbox full of toy dump trucks. I tried my best to brush this off because my son being so young, didn’t have any clue about the difference in presents.

I have done my best to brush off comments until yesterday when my mother-in-law came to visit and was talking about how I need to start preparing to have another baby (I had to stick to an strict exercise routine and diet to get pregnant the first time). This really rubbed me the wrong way and made me feel as though my son wasn’t enough for her.

The final straw came when I saw her screen saver was a close up picture of my nephews face. I recognized the picture from our family photos we just had taken. During those family photos, there were many pictures taken of my son and nephew together. She could have put both her grandchildren as her screensaver but picked just one.

I may be overly sensitive as a new mom, but I often feel hurt by my mother in laws actions towards my son. When I bring this up to my husband, he responds, Aat least he has one set of grandparents where he is the favorite,” referring to my parents.

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87. She Wants My Baby To Call Her “Mom”

My mother-in-law told me she wants my unborn child to call her mom. Her reasoning is, “I am more important to my son than you.” There’s only one thing you can give him that I can’t.” She also insists that she can have a baby, too, if she wanted, I’m not “special” for being pregnant.

This makes no sense to me, but she’s crazy to me at this point. She genuinely believes that I stole her son from her and don’t deserve to have my own child refer to me as a mom.

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88. I Won The Cold War

So I am originally from Morocco, growing up, my dad walked out on us, and my mom had to raise me all on her own. She died when I was 11, and I had to live with my dad and his family.

Let me tell you, whatever you usually experience with your MILs, I did with my stepmom, so by the time I was 18, I had enough experience to know how to deal with them.

At 18, I got a full ride and some to Penn State. Graduated at 23 and started working straight away. Then I met my husband. He comes from a very conservative family from GA, and while they say they are not racist, they 100% are.

I knew I was in for a long cold war. He invited me to their house for Thanksgiving to introduce me to his parents, made sure to tell his mom that I don’t eat anything that has either pork or alcohol in it, and then when I suggested bringing something, he said that his mom would accomodate me.

I had a feeling she wouldn’t, so I ate the same way I do before a fast. Their welcome was lukewarm, the whole night was spent with them making ignorant and racist passive-aggressive comments about me. They had invited his ex and kept heaping compliments on her.

Oh, and every single dish had either bacon or wine in it, the effing turkey was wrapped in bacon, the mac’n’cheese had bacon bits, the mashed potatoes had lard…etc. I said that I was ok, and his mom gave me just water because, apparently, they were out of non-alcoholic beverages. They were pissed because I spent the whole time joking and complimenting them, and the ex never complained about the food.

Their first plan was a bust. Then when it was time for Christmas, I was not invited, it was a family-only holiday, you know. The ex was invited, though. I just sent presents with my then-BF and had a wonderful staycation.

Fast forward about a year, and they are still throwing the ex at him, not inviting me to “family only” parties and get-togethers when we announced our engagement. His mom was pissed, and so was his sister. His dad just didn’t care by then.

We decided on a wedding that would combine both our traditions, and since they never bothered to learn about mine, they thought wearing white to my wedding would hurt me. The day of when they came in in white (ex included) and I just gushed about their dresses, you could see their hopes crashing.

Then I started changing dresses and wearing every color on the rainbow in my traditional caftans. I have this pic with his mom with the most sour face that I just cherish. There were some more minor events along the years, I never complained to my husband and didn’t let him get involved, and his mom was getting pretty desperate. Then the coup de grâce was this Christmas. She suggested I host, I agreed.

I knew for a fact that she thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Also, she thought I won’t know how to cook a traditional Christmas dinner since whenever we invite them, and I am the one doing the cooking, I make traditional Moroccan dishes.

Well, I made a whole spread, a turkey, glazed ham, mac’n’cheese, fluffy mashed potatoes, green beans casserole, brussel sprouts, roasted carrots and potatoes, homemade bread and cornbread, pies for dessert.

I also had cookies and cakes and everything. She broke down crying, accusing me of getting catering, then when my husband tried to calm her, she just went off, screaming and pushing the food off the table, broke a good portion of our good china. And because her daughter and husband didn’t do anything, my husband just threw them out and went to NC.

I guess she wasn’t ready for a woman whose entire culture made the whole struggle into part of the culture.

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89. Crashing A Funeral

My estranged BPD mother-in-law thought it was a great idea to come to my husband’s best friend’s father’s funeral today. My husband just wanted to see his friend and support him. He hasn’t seen him or their other friends for almost a year because of the pandemic. His mom doesn’t even know his best friend’s dad, who passed. She just thought it was a chance to see my husband and my kids.

Well, my husband got in his suit and left this morning to go to the service, and not 15 mins later, he returns home while I was about to leave with the kids to go to their sporting events.

I at first thought he forgot something, but no, he said he pulled in the parking lot of the church, and he saw his mom and dad walking up into the church. He was so upset and sad, he has PTSD from their treatment of him, and his anxiety went through the roof when he saw them. He didn’t want to cause a scene, so he just came home.

What a disgusting, wretched creature she is to think it is her place to come to his best friend’s dad’s funeral when she didn’t even know the man and definitely wasn’t invited. I know she only came to try to see my husband and my kids. She was probably banking on the fact we would be there, and she could corner us.

I’m happy we decided earlier to not go and let my husband go instead. I’m so glad my husband saw them first and just left. He didn’t want to ruin his friend’s dad’s funeral with our problems. What would have happened if he didn’t see them and walked into the church, and was ambushed?

I’m just really more mad that she ruined his day and he couldn’t be with his friend and be there for him. He felt like a complete jerk for bailing on his friend. But his friend knows everything that’s going on with my husbands parents, so I know he understands why my husband had to leave.

He was really looking forward to seeing people he hasn’t been able to see for a whole year. 

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90. Spying On Us

My MIL lives next door, and every time she leaves her place, she has to pass ours. And she doesn’t just pass, she slows her car and visibly scans every window in our house. Sometimes we make eye contact, and it gets awkward.

I guess she likes to keep track of where we are. She’s made comments like, “I’ve noticed you’re not in the living room much lately. Where in the house do you go?” It’s super weird and invasive, and I literally don’t know to handle it. I feel like I’m a zoo animal.

And yes, I know we need blinds, though she’s commented in the past how much it would hurt her if we have blinds closed because that would “look unfriendly.”I’m going nuts.

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91. Crying Because She Won’t Be A Grandma

MIL and FIL came over for easter. My husband is an only child, and he and I have decided long ago that children aren’t part of our life plan. Love kids, don’t want to be parents.

We’ve had several encounters where she expressed her disappointment about not being a grandmother and how she’s jealous of her friends for their stories of grandchildren. I told them my sister is expecting, and she burst into tears.

Again about how she’s missing out. I told her I’m not trying to break her heart, but I can’t have a child for her. Her feelings are always someone else’s responsibility, and this time I’m taking it personally. She told me how she feels several times. It’s time for her to start moving on.

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92. Ruining My First Mother’s Day

My husband and I share a property with my MIL. Yes, it’s tricky. Different living spaces, but shared yard. The day before mother’s day was spent honoring my MIL, as that is the day most of her adult children could come over to celebrate. Even though I’m a new mom, it was very much not my day but hers, which I was fine with.

I asked my partner if he wanted to do something with his mom on Mother’s Day itself, but he said no because the day before had been for her. I was really looking forward to enjoying my first Mother’s Day.

It’s been a hard year to be a first-time mom, what with the pandemic and all. My husband had planned a nice picnic outside in the yard for me, him, and our little baby. We had just sat down when his mom came outside and invited herself to sit down and join.

She was in a bad mood and immediately started complaining about inane things and criticizing me for being so careful about Covid (because we’re not letting her hug our baby, which she endlessly guilt trips me for, but she’s very active and social, and we aren’t).

I had to defend my parenting decisions and I just wanted a nice first Mother’s Day. I was hurt that she didn’t for once consider how her behavior might be spoiling my supposed celebration.

Afterwards I was angry at my husband for not finding a way to ask her to leave, but he said he couldn’t be mean because she’s lonely. We fought the rest of the day.

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93. Enough Is Enough

So I’ve been pretty sick lately and I went to the doctor to find out why. Turns out I am having issues with my uterus and might have to get it removed. So my husband and I were telling my father-in-law about it and I guess my mother-in-law overheard. She told me that it was a great thing because my husband and I didn’t need any more kids.

We have two kids together but one was stillborn. So we only have one living child together and then he has a child from another relationship. So we’ve decided that we’re just gonna cut contact and take her grandkids away.

Then, if things turn out good and we do decide to have another kid, she will not be meeting that child.

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94. Scamming Her Way Into Living With Us

I wish I was making this up. I wish it was as fictitious as it sounds. We’ve always had issues with my MIL. She has damaged property and vehicles, made false police reports. You name it, we’ve dealt with it.

Unfortunately, she also originally had custody of our nieces, who we now have custody of, and has court-ordered visitation, so we cannot completely cut her off.

Around 11 years ago, MIL started getting her mail addressed to our house. Most of it was junk, but if it looked important, we would save it and give it to her when we saw her next.

One day we came home to find she had broken in while we weren’t home. We immediately called the cops. When the cops arrived, MIL claimed she had been living with us and showed them the mail as her proof.

The cops believed her over us and told us if we wanted her gone, we would have to legally evict her. She lived with us and gave us hell until we scraped up the money to evict her.

We moved out of state shortly after that. While we lived out of state for a full ten years, we never received one piece of mail in her name. She had our address as she would send gifts to our nieces, but everything came addressed to them.

Fast forward to now. We moved back to our home state to be near my family and have been here for around four months. My nieces must have given her our address again, as we just got mail addressed in her name again.

It’s literally my greatest fear that she will take the same route again. As of right now, I’ve been marking all her mail as “return to sender, addressee does not live here” and leaving them in the mailbox for the postman to pick back up.

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95. Too Attached 

My MIL is constantly hounding my husband and I to move closer to her (we’re only currently 30 minutes away, and that’s “so far”). Meanwhile, in the almost ten years we’ve been together, she’s moved (all within the state but from one end to the other) 6 times.

Not that I would ever move to please her, but even if we did, she’d take off anyway right after. Never happy with where she ends up. She just bought this house 30 minutes from us last August and decided she’s done already.

Now she’s making a cross-country move and is having tantrums insisting we move too to the same state as her when she goes so we’re not “all the way across the country.”

Um, excuse you chose to leave. Not our problem. Then she said can’t we at least move to a state halfway between where we currently live and where she’s moving so we have to take a plane to see my family too, so it’s “fair.” But it shouldn’t surprise me.

This is also the same woman who is always “running late with dinner” on a holiday that we planned to split between both families, so we never make it to my side.

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96. Putting Nair In My Christmas Gift

I can’t believe I’m even writing this, but I need to vent. My partner and I are both 25, well on our way in life, and it seems like his mom can’t stand it. She’s been vocal about her dislike for me since the beginning, and neither my partner and I can’t understand why.

But, this time, she went too far. For the background, my hair is super long, and I’ve been growing it for years. She knows this, and I think that she did it as a last-ditch effort to bring me down as her petty jabs don’t get the reaction she wants anymore.

She gave me a hair mask for Christmas, it didn’t have a tamper seal and smelled weird, but I figured it was just a new brand I hadn’t tried, and I’d give it a shot. I noticed quickly and rinsed it out with minimal damage, luckily!

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97. Bunny

Yesterday, my MIL came to drop off a gift for our son. When my husband mentioned it, I was like that’s nice but thinking that it would be something that our son could use right away. When my husband walks into the house with a bunny.

Our son is going to turn nine months, realistically, he cannot even play with the bunny because right now, he wants to put everything into his mouth. Where in her right mind did she think it would be ideal for a 9-month-old to have a pet?

We already have three pets in our family, so even though small, it’s an additional pet that we have to take care of. I hate that MIL puts me in a situation where I have to be the bad guy in my husband’s eyes.

I told him let’s find a new home for the bunny since DH rarely helps me with our dogs, and it would add on to my list of chores aside from my work. DH responded, “ Well, my mom is going to be mad once she finds out that we don’t have the bunny no more, so I’m just taking it back to her.”

I haven’t spoken to MIL for a couple of months, and DH wants to add more to our situation. I love my DH, but the things that have been going on with his mom and I have put a toll on me, and it worries me that our relationship could come to an end.

I’ve tried to be on good terms with his mom, but MIL always finds a way to be the one that does nothing wrong while I do everything wrong.

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98. She’s Mad Because Of A Funeral

My SO’s sister is moving 10 hours away for her freshman year at college. This is obviously exciting and a huge deal so me, SO, his brother, and dad were all going to drive up together to move her in. MIL is staying home for whatever reason.

The trip was supposed to be Tuesday-Friday. Unfortunately, my SO’s coworker died after a work-related incident. My SO is a firefighter and is a very big deal in the community whenever someone dies, especially when it is work-related. His funeral is on Friday.

In order to still make the trip work and be able to make the funeral, we offered to drive a separate car and only go Tuesday-Thursday.

Ten hours one day, help move in the next, and 10 hours right back the next day. MIL threw a colossal fit over this, saying how we were putting a dead person over his little sister.

Harsh comment, first of all. She made this huge scene about how important it is for us to be there for her when she’s not even going at all.

We are literally still planning on going, just cutting it a day short. She then proceeded to uninvite us from the trip she’s not going on because we were making it complicated. We’re literally not making it complicated for anyone except us, so I don’t understand.

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99. Hurtful Jokes

I have pretty bad period cramps and was having a really bad lunchtime due to those. In the meantime, before lunch- I had been wearing a mask because of COVID and took it out to eat. After maybe 10 minutes, she proceeds to tell me that I should keep wearing it because I look like crap.

I finished my lunch and left, with the excuse of going home to take some pills. I am beyond raged.

She keeps making these comments, and no one tells her anything about it. She has also said I should learn to laugh since I don’t do it often…Everyone takes these comments as jokes…But they are hurtful to me.

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100. Blaming Me For Everything

Had a post a while back about my MIL’s awful behaviour and her obsession to know why I sometimes don’t wear my engagement ring.

I took the advice, and my partner spoke to his dad about MIL’s behaviour, but now things are being turned on me by MIL. Attacked me and blamed her mental health, saying I was picking on a very unwell woman (she isn’t as unwell as she’s making out, she constantly uses her health as an excuse for her shitty behaviour and to be lazy). Unwell or not, there’s no reason to be awful to someone, and if you are, the decent thing to do is apologise.

I have since cut them out and haven’t had any contact with them. Today is my birthday, and my partner’s daughter is down seeing us.

The situation with my partner’s daughter and his ex isn’t great, and so, of course, MIL decides to add more drama to it. She is demanding to see HER granddaughter, not valuing that her time with her dad is more important and time-limited. Partner refused and said he and his daughter are busy and today is my birthday.

MIL once again blames me for not seeing her granddaughter and has said my birthday doesn’t matter. Honestly, I’m sick of this woman. She could have offered an olive branch but has decided to be an absolute cretin.

My partner feels like he’s caught in the middle, which I understand, but I also don’t think he should follow the tune of his vile mother either. I just don’t know what to do anymore, this woman just has free reign to be an awful person. Haven’t reacted to her behaviour and will continue to ignore her. But I feel like she is driving a wedge between my partner and I, and if I say anything about how I’m feeling, my partner will get defensive.

I totally get his point of view but I feel like he should distance himself from her for a while to show her behaviour is out of line.

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101. Completely Ignored

I have been with my other half for over seven years, and we recently got married! I had a pleasant relationship with his family at the beginning, but it is now nonexistent. We went to a wedding where DH was a groomsman, and his mother came to see him and completely ignored me in the process, even though I was standing there. All his friends witnessed this and were disgusted.

That was two years ago, and she has yet to apologise! Things have not improved since then. When we got engaged, she couldn’t stop crying. At our wedding, she wore ivory without consulting me and never spoke to me the whole day, spending it crying mainly. His sister, his only sibling, completely ignored me too.

I will admit I made no effort with them. We requested no photos of the wedding party to go on social media, and of course, his mother ignored our request and went ahead and put up photos, she didn’t see the problem because I wasn’t in them.

Since the wedding, I’ve decided to cut them out of my life because I don’t need them.

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102. Crazy Jealous 

This is one of the most shocking moments that would make anyone question my MIL’s feelings towards me, or at least her physiological nature. (Don’t worry, after 16 years of marriage, I have plenty of stories).

Early in my marriage, my wedding rings were stolen. For years, I didn’t have any. When my dad passed, we were left with some inheritance.

I asked my husband if I could replace my wedding rings. He thought that was a really nice idea. I asked him not to tell his parents, as his mom always seemed to not take it well when something nice or good happened to me. He told me I was crazy and that they would be happy for me. I said, nevertheless, let’s keep this between us. He agreed.

Months went by, and I never wore them around her. One night, I forgot to take them off, and we were sitting at Sonic around 10:00 PM, and she saw my new rings. She had a full meltdown. She grabbed my hand and shook it at my FIL, saying how it wasn’t fair that I had new wedding rings and she wanted new ones!

She kept saying her anniversary was coming up and he better take her to get new rings. He explained that they were going to Disney for their anniversary, and they did have the money for new rings. They had spent it on the two-week vacation to Florida.

Cut to thirteen hours later, my mother-in-law went into the same store I bought my rings at… Because she can’t possibly let another woman have something she didn’t have. They had called my husband for permission to pull my file so she could see exactly what I bought.

This grown woman couldn’t stand that I had something shiny and new, and she didn’t, and my husband thought this was normal. The only reason I had a wedding ring, to begin with, is because my father had passed away.

What little respect and relationship I had with them would forever be shattered. The day she got them, she tripped and scratched them on the sidewalk…I like to think that was a little bit of instant karma…

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103. She’s Disgusting 

Everything about my MIL makes me seethe with anger. One tiny example: She demands hubs, and I take her to monthly dinners, and “coincidentally,” every restaurant she chooses has a ribeye on the menu. Those steaks aren’t cheap.

She orders the ribeye and pigs it down like an animal in the wild. It’s disgusting. Grunting, sucking sounds, licking of fingers. It makes me want to curl into a ball and cry.

She never offers to pick up the tab, including the time she wanted to have dinner to celebrate my husband’s birthday. Just ordered her ribeye and let the tab sit on the table until it grew moss. We paid that night too.

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104. Wrong Hair Color

My new (and first) baby was born with brown hair. My MIL was thrilled and, every time she saw my baby, said she really preferred brown-haired babies over blonde babies. It was awkward because we knew our baby would turn blonde quickly (as both hubby and I did as babies)

Every time she brought it up, we explained that our baby will turn blonde, but she apparently didn’t believe us. She’s mentioned her preference for brown-haired kids also in front of her now adult daughter (my SIL) and how disappointed she was when her daughter turned out blonde. Also awkward because she has two other blonde grandkids (we now know) she’s disappointed by.

At one point, I snapped something like, “So your love is conditional on something so silly as hair color?” and she laughed it off and said yes (her tone was jokingly, but honestly, I don’t know anymore).

And now, as expected, my baby’s hair color of changing, lightening to blond. MIL points it out when she sees the baby and tries to act like she’s not disappointed, but it’s very thinly veiled.

This is really petty, and it shouldn’t bug me, but it does. I get so mad. It feels like she likes my baby less because of something superficial no one had any control over. I worry, what if my baby ends up having actual issues, like medical issues down the road… will those “flaws” be so strongly disapproved of also?

I should add this is part of a larger toxic relationship dynamic where my MIL is generally pretty overbearing and insensitive and seems to take satisfaction in breaking down the people who love her.

And she’s my landlord.

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105. Photoshoot Gone Wrong

I wanted to have a photoshoot of my two boys, but since COVID, I wanted to do them at home. I asked my MIL if we could use her phone since it has amazing quality, and she agreed that we could plan a day together.

Time goes on, and our schedules don’t match up, so it never ended up happening. We planned a day to go over to visit, and the night before going over, she texts me saying, “Just so you know, I want to take photos of you all tomorrow.”

Me thinking it was just a random photo she wanted, I didn’t even respond. (I hate pictures, and everyone knows). We get there, and she planned a whole photoshoot for my family. I looked like complete crap. I told my husband that I didn’t want to do it and was afraid to hurt her feelings by saying no. He kept saying just tell her (he’s doesn’t like saying no to his mom).

I was beating around the bush and said I look really bad today. I didn’t have enough time to prepare. Both my MIL and husband were just assuring me I’m beautiful and I should have more confidence.

Naaah, the only thing I’m missing is a backbone, clearly… The photos turned out horrible, although my kids always look adorable, so I guess that was a win.

After we were done, she said she wanted pictures with her boys and my husband, then my FIL got in the picture because he is her “boy” as well…The only one left was me, not in the rest after that.

I later found out she planned this for weeks and didn’t tell me any of it. Maybe that isn’t as extreme as some of the other posts on her, but it really got under my skin. Maybe its just me and being possessive, but also her referring to my kids as her “boys” gets under my skin.

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106. She’s Emotionally Blackmailing Us

My mother-in-law has a personality disorder that makes it impossible for her to be wrong or to blame. In her view, nothing has ever been her fault. She is always the victim. She is a golden saint who has been screwed over by everybody else, and the situation she is in (basically homeless) is entirely others’ fault.

That is almost by-the-by but gives context to her most recent hilarity. Namely, that she has asked us to withhold access to our child (just about one year old) to another family member because she had a court ruling in their favour which hurt her financially.

The view being that if we withhold access to our son, the other party will be forced to come to the table and settle with her more amicably. Their spat has very little to do with us, but as she is nearly homeless (mostly sofa-surfing with friends), it is her last resort for a better life.

My wife has sympathy for her situation but recognises we cant much short of asking her to live with us (which we all agree is not ever going to happen). The government has offered her support (the good old New Zealand government has always got your back, mate.), but she has declined as she thinks she deserves more than a 2-bed flat or house as she wasn’t brought up in those circumstances (she comes from vast wealth).

We told her straight away, ‘you are emotionally blackmailing us here,’ to which we got a response, ‘well it is either you do that or I will never speak to you again.’ I wonder if she knows that her threat isn’t as threatening as she would like it to be…

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107. She Ruined My Life

I felt like my MIL enabled my husband to be dependent on her for most of our relationship.It was all sunshine and rainbows until a couple of days before my wedding in 2019 when she decided I was texting my almost-husband too much and took his phone.Yes, took his phone.

Then Christmas 2019, she convinced him not to come to my family Christmas. Called him on my birthday and asked to have lunch just with him. Did the same thing on Christmas and birthday in 2020. Those are just examples.

I’ve had misplaced anger toward her ever since. Lots of other little things.

Husband and I started having problems last fall, and on January 1st, he packed all his stuff and left to go live with her. He left me with all the bills and our dog and no financial assistance while he lived with her for free. He gave me no explanation other than that this was a “separation” but couldn’t tell me when or how he would come back. He insisted I not speak to him, and we do zero communication because he can’t “handle” talking to me. I know him better and know he’s just evading.

So essentially, he packed up and left with no word or further communication.

I struggled with anxiety over whether he’d come back. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I grieved. On February 15th, I decided to divorce. I’m so angry that I was right–he loves her more than he loved me. Trying to come to terms with it. But just very angry that in the end, it seems like she enabled him to leave and coaxed him away.

I know this is a problem with him. I know he was the one who chose to leave and could have made better choices. But I’ve just got this hatred and bitterness towards her I’m trying to let go of because it’s misplaced, and the bitterness will just eat me up.

I’m angry and sad but also feel a lot of relief. I don’t have to compete with a 50-year-old woman for my husband’s affection. She can have him. I’m trying to look at this as being set free.

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108. Spreading Lies

My fiancé and soon-to-be husband is one of the sweetest men in the whole world, but his mother is absolutely insane. She just followed me on Instagram and saw how happy he and I are (I make posts about our adventures all the time). This seemed to have set her off, and now I’m definitely blocking her.

Luckily she is a thousand miles away from us, but she is still tearing my fiancé down, and I hate seeing him so upset. I keep telling him to greyrock, to disengage, and he has been.

Here is just a small sample of the most recent things she’s been telling him through texts:

-I’m going to abandon him, and he should go back home to her

-He’s worthless because he can’t get a job (he’s here legally, but we don’t have his work visa yet. He’s been doing odd jobs under the table)

– I have a criminal record (I don’t. It was a civil ticket for trespassing…long story, I cleared that years ago, but it still showed up when she searched my record), and I’m going to take advantage of him because I’m a criminal.

-He should feel guilty for abandoning his family during a time of need (his BIL just passed away. He went to his funeral and spent time with his sister before coming here)

There’s much more, but I’m too steamed to even think straight. He wants nothing to do with her.

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109. Controlling Mother

My girlfriend and I have been together for over two years. We do everything together and even have joint bank accounts together. We have a house and pets, but for some reason, her mom still thinks she’s still a child.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that she’s her baby, and it’s hard for moms to let their child go from the nest, but when she’s 27 years old, I would like to believe that the phase would grow out.

My girlfriend was connected to her in every way you can before we got together. She was on her car insurance, health insurance, bank account, and even was on the name of her car title. I’m totally the opposite, and I try to be independent in any way I can, but she definitely was not.

Now that she’s with me, I tried to get her on her feet and to feel more confident about herself, get on her own things. She’s doing really good, but her mom is definitely pissed that I’m taking away her child.

Every time I go over to her parents’ house, I can feel the tension like I could cut it with a knife it’s so thick. But my last straw was tonight. So remember I said they share a bank account?

Well, long story short, my girlfriend switched banks because it was just more convenient, but now she’s closing her bank account shared with my MIL. My girlfriend told her this probably five days ago, and she did NOT seem thrilled.

So today, we went to the bank and took out most of the money, and switched it to her new account. Maybe three hours later, she gets a text from MIL asking why she only had 10 dollars in her account and why she took it out. She’s 27 years old? Why would you ask that?

I know it’s not my place, but I got kind of upset because my girlfriend has worked so hard to be independent from her parents, but her mother finds anything she can to get back in. This isn’t the only thing that my MIL has done to be controlling. It just gets so old.

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110. The Most Controlling Person I’ve Ever Met

She is the most manipulative, conniving, controlling person I have ever met. But because she puts on a smile when she’s doing it, it took me FOUR YEARS to realize.

I am only just coming to terms with understanding I have bent over backwards to make this woman happy, and yet she is so immature, expectant, and childish. Also, she is so weird with my partner (her son).

Like when she visits, or we visit her, she makes him give her neck or foot massages like I hate it! It’s DISGUSTING. And it’s abnormal.

She will come over to our place (her old house, 3 hours drive away) and start cleaning it (it’s already clean) and hand stuff off the bench, and smile at me and say, “Where does this go, sweetie? Where does this go?” And I find myself putting it away.

She moves around furniture and reorganises the cupboards. I hate it so much. If we tell her we’re busy, she just comes over anyways. Recently we went out for dinner, she had drank A LOT.

One of my rings slipped off, and I couldn’t find it. She told the bar staff it was a ring from my mum who died (not true), and I was so hurt because I already lost my dad. She respects no boundaries, and everyone thinks she’s a saint. I’m at a loss but needed to vent. There’s loads more but it would take forever to include!

Another one is her inviting herself to a girls’ night at a bar I had planned with two of MY friends. And recently invited herself to my best friend’s birthday dinner.

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111. She Doesn’t Understand Us

I had a hysterectomy at 26 due to an accident. However, even before then I never saw myself as a parent. My fiance and I both own businesses and we would not have the time to take care of a child.

My soon-to-be MIL keeps asking for grandchildren and it is getting under my skin. She knows we can not have them biologically and she knows we would not adopt a child into a home where we do not have enough time for a child. She also knows our shared feelings of being child-free.

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112. She Pushed Me

Me and my partner walk one of the dogs that they have every night. For some reason, MIL wanted a big dog even though she knew because of health issues, she isn’t able to walk the dog. Because the dog is too strong.

So me, and my partner walk the big dog, and she walks the small dog. To get out of the house, there is a very narrow hallway, and I was in the hallway getting the dogs ready to go outside. I was waiting for my partner to (who stood in the living room and could see the hallway from there) to put on his coat and come outside with me.

As I was waiting, my MIL decides she wants to go get the small dog and go outside through the narrow hallway. I saw she wanted to go outside, so as I wanted to step outside so she could pass, I feel a slight push from the side.

Before I even know what’s happening, she pushes herself through the narrow hallway, pushing me completely aside. It was just really ridiculous, and I looked at my partner, who stood there with an open mouth.

We just walked the dog, and when we got back inside, my partner asked why she pushed me, and she looks up with this bad acting surprised face and starts rambling on about how she didn’t see me (which is damn near impossible in such a narrow hallway), so I was kind of waiting for an apology, but of course, that didn’t happen.

This is only a recent story I have of her, and I have many more. But this is like actually pushing someone and just still can’t believe it happened. My partner and I definitely plan on getting married, but I’ve already decided for myself that MIL and I aren’t gonna be close.

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113. Forced Kisses From MIL

My MIL is bipolar and SHOULD be taking medicine to help her. She’s on and off, so we try to do what we can to keep her happy. Well, her birthday party was yesterday, and I’ve been paranoid about covid since I had my first kid in 2020, but I decided we should go because it was important to her, and I know I’d never live it down if we skipped out.

Long story longer, when we arrived, you can tell she’s a little lit. It’s her birthday, so that’s to be expected. What bothered me is as soon as we walked in, I heard her say she’s going to try and kiss everyone on the lips for some reason.

It’s a party of maybe 15-20 people. She goes in to kiss me, and I politely decline with a “no thank you.” And she grabs my head quickly and kisses me on the mouth as I curl my lips in for minimal direct lip contact. I went and washed my lips twice and became more bothered by it throughout the day.

As I’m leaving with my son, we are telling her bye, and she half-heartedly apologizes and closes her apology with, “But I got me one!” I plan on breaking the news to her that from here forward, she cannot kiss me or my child, especially against our will and especially since she seems so careless to respect boundaries during a pandemic.

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114. I Never Want To See Her Again

My husband and I cut off his mother, and it’s been a year now! We were so close to divorcing because of her! She’s an alcoholic & a big liar, and a narcissistic person! She literally tried to control our marriage, and she’d get mad if my husband was on a date with me and didn’t answer his phone when she was calling.

Fast forward, we got pregnant, and she was saying rude shit like “how dare y’all bring a baby into my family” and “I’ll be surprised if yalls baby is born normal,” so we cut her off for three months while I was pregnant.

Then a week before my due date, I called her, forgiving her because I thought she’d change.

Anyway, not even two months after I gave birth, she was telling my husband to leave me and get full custody of our daughter “cause she wanted to see the baby as much as possible” I had the hardest time getting my husband to stick up for me until I just had enough and packed my bags and took the baby and stayed with my sis for a few days.

Then he came around, and we blocked her number, changed our numbers and everything, and even moved out of state (8 hours away). 

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115. “Get Pregnant!”

My mother-in-law is desperate for me and my husband to have a baby. We told her and the entire family years ago that we don’t want any kids.

We have been happy together for 12 years, married for 5. So now, she finds REASONS. I have asthma – “get pregnant, pregnancy will fix that!”

I have Hashimoto thyroiditis – “get pregnant, pregnancy will fix that!” I have discuss hernia – “get pregnant, pregnancy will heal that!” – while my doctor literally said I would be risking my mobility if I tried to have a child.

So, at this point, she will say and do anything. My grandma now has inoperable cancer and is sliding into depression. I am doing everything I can to help her get through the awful processes and therapy.

My husband told his mother I am worried my grandma will just give up on life, and I don’t know how to help her.

ENTER MIL “You know, I am not telling you this because of myself, but for your grandma’s sake. For old people, it’s really important to have a reason to live. So tell her she will have a great-grandchild – I wouldn’t be surprised if it helped CURE HER CANCER.”

By the end of her sentence, I was fuming. I laughed it off, said I hardly believe lies will help and told her I have to go. Didn’t start a fight, although I wanted sooo badly.

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116. Strangers In The House

I recently discovered that my MIL has been bringing her friends and co-workers around to my house while my partner and I are at work to give them tours of our garden.

It’s nothing special, just a vegetable garden, but she has been bringing people who I have never met, around since we moved in ( over a year ago). I only found out because, apparently, they weren’t impressed with the weeds

I have let grow around the side of the house. I told my partner, and he told her she is not to come to our house when we aren’t home without our permission, but she got away with it for so long, who knows if she’s still doing it or not. I’m considering setting up cameras.

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117. The Worst Gift Ever

My MIL was sure to show me just how little she thinks of me by giving me a used, stoneware owl candleholder complete with a half-burnt candle, cobwebs, and a dead ladybug. She didn’t even try to make me feel like she was thinking of me in any way by mentioning that although it was an obviously used gift, she just knew I would love it or that it made her think of me somehow.

I don’t collect owls or stoneware, and we can’t burn candles in our house for a variety of reasons (cats, child, allergies). Then she gave me a cheap coin purse wrapped in a jewelry box (the packaging kind, not the keepsake kind) for my birthday.

Every year, I carefully consider her when gift-giving, and every year she manages to hurt my feelings. My in-laws are not hurting for money. She is not going senile.

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118. Hell, No!

WTF! My own parents are even planning to stay in a hotel when they visit. We have a tiny little apartment with one bedroom, one larger open room with kitchen and living room space, and one tiny bathroom. And we already have a friggin couch.

Plus, both of us work remotely, and I’m certainly not taking time off to cater to her. I told my SO to tell his mom that sleeping in our living room wouldn’t work out well, and he said he’ll talk to her… whatever that means… I also don’t want her to think she can just choose to visit whenever she wants without coordinating with us.

I don’t want to end up resenting her, but this is pissing me off lol.

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119. She Used The N-Word

When I met my now wife, her mom was staying with her. She doesn’t live close by and would come and stay with her for a few months at a time when she was a single mom.

When I came into the picture, she would still come, and then when we got married, she still stayed with us for a couple of months. Nothing notable happened during these times, but it’s always uncomfortable having an in-law live with you.

Fast forward to the beginning of last year. I’m black and my wife is white. I was playing around with my 3 y/o daughter at the dinner table and was doing “eeeny meeny mini mo, catch a tiger by the toe”.

She chimes in with her version, but instead of catching a tiger, it’s an N-word. I’m in shock, don’t really say much to it, but my wife says she can’t say that and that’s wrong.

So now she’s staying at our house, while I work from home, and have to co-exist with her. She ended up staying for another 5 months due to COVID concerns, but I was never comfortable with her being here after that.

Now my wife wants her mom to come again and spend time with her and the kids since she hasn’t seen her for almost a year. I understand that I can’t reasonably never see this woman again, but I don’t want her to stay in my house for months.

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