MIL: 'Is the cleaner still coming?'

[Echobelly]

I have found out I have at least one friend whose MIL regularly asks 'Is your cleaner still coming?' when she visits, by way of pass-agg saying 'I think that the house you have spent hours tidying ahead of my visit is still a total pigsty', exactly as mine does.

So I'm wondering how common this phenomenon is from mothers and MILs?

@JohnSmithDrive

These things are so much more to do with how you feel about MIL than what she's actually saying though.

For example if my mum or MIlL told me I looked tired, I'd think she was showing concern for me. If she asked about the cleaner it would be is she still coming with Covid about. If she offered to clean while she was staying, I'd take that as a kind offer and not wanting her visit to be too much of a burden.

I think this about virtually all the MiL threads.

There's one running today complaining her MiL isn't fawning over her when she offers a cuppa when the MiL has the audacity to say "only if you're having one"

It would be my sister who would say something like that. She is OCD tidy and I am ok with some mess (not dirt but like right now there is still Christmas presents out and cups from coffee etc I am ok with that) sister would have tidied all away and would be twitchy

years ago she came to visit having not seen me for 2 years. We had moved houseinto a doer upper and I asked her what she thought she replied" I think tomorrow we should give it a really good clean" I walked up to the bathroom and burst into tears.

my mum would start manically cleaning (also annoying especially when it wasn't dirty or in need of cleaning - and we always lost something she had " tidied" away) MIL however was wonderful and never said a word just came to see us..

Miss mil dearly