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AIBU?

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AIBU to refuse SIL's family holiday?

28 replies

Goawayorthrowaway · 18/09/2026 02:31

Giving lots of background info so there's not a big drip feed, sorry it's long and thanks for reading!

I have a great relationship with my PIL, they were v supportive when I lost my mom just after uni and have always been really kind and welcoming. I especially adore my MIL, we are extremely similar in lots of ways - DH is very close to his mom so she's an important part of our lives. SIL1 is lovely too, we don't have as much in common and she is 15 years older than me but we've always gotten on well and she and DH are close.

The years DH and I were together in uni SIL2 was living abroad, so she was never around when we visited PILs or for parties etc. I didn't think anything of it, DH didn't mention her in any particular way except to (jokingly) say she talked non-stop which is why he ignored her phone calls. After about 2 years she sort of demanded that I be introduced to her in a very 'I'll see what I make of this young one' way. When I met her it was just a bizarre - she referred to me in the third person repeatedly, made weirdly personal comments about my body, was intensely possessive over her parents, her home, her brother... so much so that both DH and MIL told her over the few days to calm down/lay off me.

Since then we've had a sort of surface level polite relationship but it's always been pretty clear she resents me being so comfortable in her family - loads of petty nonsense and drama over the 10 years we've been together but I've tried v v hard to keep it friendly. More recently DH has pulled away and they've had a few rows over her behaviour in general.

Today she rang me to give out that (1) we haven't seen them all summer and (2) she wants to organise a family holiday for MILs birthday in December but no one wants to go (because it will be too much drama). Apparently this is my fault - she "knows" I have told DH we're not going (completely untrue) and that is why SIL1 won't go (?????) It got quite heated, I tried to just laugh it off and say she should talk to DH, this has nothing to do with me etc etc but she was shouting a lot so I just hung up eventually. ANYWAY, apparently my lovely MIL has now been dragged into it all, is very upset and think we should all just go along with it to keep SIL2 happy.

AIBU to say no fucking way!?

OP posts:
WhippetMam · 18/09/2026 23:29

I have a feeling sil2 wants a holiday paid for by the bank of mum and dad and is throwing her weight around to try and achieve this using your mil's birthday as an excuse? Could that be an element here? And as others aren’t interested she’s blowing things up with you to manipulate mil into taking her away anyway?

OperationalSupport · 19/09/2026 07:58

Can you just tell anyone who asks ‘if we can’t even have a conversation to organise it without a disagreement then we definitely can’t manage a weekend’

Goawayorthrowaway · 20/09/2026 15:08

WhippetMam · 18/09/2026 23:29

I have a feeling sil2 wants a holiday paid for by the bank of mum and dad and is throwing her weight around to try and achieve this using your mil's birthday as an excuse? Could that be an element here? And as others aren’t interested she’s blowing things up with you to manipulate mil into taking her away anyway?

Yes this is exactly her MO, always trying to get something for nothing - plays the "poor single mam" card constantly, despite the fact PIL contributed massively to her house purchase and her ExH pays a £800 a month in maintenance.

We went to a christening on my side of the family yesterday, DH sent a nice picture of our two girls dressed up with their baby cousin into his family chat. SIL1 then sent him a screenshot of a -unhinged rant- message SIL2 had sent her, basically just slagging me off and moaning about how much we see my family. SIL1 had said 'probably wouldn't hurt to visit SIL2, she's very hurt that you don't make time for her', DH has replied saying 'well then she can call me back instead of blaming Goaway for everything'.

Complete nonsense from her anyway 🫠 My family consists of just my dad, who lives 3 hours away from us, and my brother (and his wife and 3 kids) who we see about 4 times a year because they live abroad. This weekend we were staying up at my DDads because DBro was home for a week and getting baby christened. I am very close with my dad and we see him at least twice a month, plus I spend 3 weeks with him in the summer holiday but we lost my mom early so obviously I make a lot of effort to see him!

OP posts:
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