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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to ask you to tell me the annoying things your MILs do/ have done? (just for fun)

123 replies

IHaveAPainINMyNeck · 22/02/2011 09:03

to make me feel more benevolent towards mine??

OP posts:
mumbar · 22/02/2011 14:05

Ex-MIL used to go on and on about DS, loving him, spending time with him all she does for him.
She wouldn't though actually care for him and even yelled at me at 12.30am once for ringing her when DS in hospital after a convulsion. I was trying to get hold of ex-p, who was living there after our split.
Once I asked if she could have him whilst I went to work, CM was ill, and she said no as she was doing supermarket shop, fine, until she popped into my work 3 hours into my shift just to 'check' I'd managed to find someone. Shock

TheRealMrsHannigan · 22/02/2011 14:10

My MIL is just completely apathetic towards her children and grandchildren.
She forgot DH and SIL1's birthdays this year and last year. Because my in-laws have been without a car for a few months, they point blank refuse to visit because it means using public transport. It's got to the point we have refused to visit them, and have not visited them since New years Day.
They complain about not seeing their grandaughter but won't actually make the effort to come and see her.

They know we are both non smokers and do not let anyone smoke around DD. They go into another room with the door shut and window open when we have visited. Twice I have caught MIL letting DD in the 'smoking room' to sit with her whilst she has a cigarette. I had to tell her point blank that I don't trust her to look after DD unsupervised now.

JustaNickname · 22/02/2011 14:16

Oh my god some of the stories on here would make your hair curl!

I used to really get on with my ex MIL but she can be an awful bitch when she wants to be. When my ex P hit me she said it was my own fault which was sort of the straw that broke the camels back.

Apart from that she hi jacked the only 2 holidays we ever had together as a family by booking tickets for herself, her husband and my ex's 2 sisters.

When I was pregnant with my ds she told everyone in the village that we were having a dna test to make sure who the father (this was utter lies) but she never had the decency to voice her so called concerns to my face!

I'm sure theres many other incidents but I really don't want to think about the old bitch any more.

GloriaSmut · 22/02/2011 14:21

I didn't like my (mercifully former) MIL but actually, I am bored with the relentless MIL bashing that is, allegedly, "for fun".

Be a little honest, OP. What you want is to have a thoroughly good bitchfest. There's nothing remotely "funny" about it.

Oh, and has it occurred to you that we haven't all got umpteen horror stories? Or that mothers-in-law can be human too? Only I loved my dp's mother and her death, five years ago, came as a great loss.

ddubsgirl · 22/02/2011 14:22

i get on fine with my in laws,only lately they have upset us when mil accused oh of lying about breaking down in the car on the way to thiers,oh was stuck for nearly 3 hours in the cold with ds1 & 2 and was starting to snow,he was spose to be taking them over to go xmas shopping with nan,at neices birthday she said we had lied about it,even bil & sil told her she was out of order,mil had stroke 9 yrs ago and now says things without thinking and repeats herself alot which we know isnt her fault but can be upsetting at times,sil boyfriend left her few months ago and when she told them they whooped for joy(never liked him)and went on and on about how happy they were with no thought to how sil was feeling.

alemci · 22/02/2011 14:23

the time zone thing applies to my in laws as well who are always early. find it so irritating. the traffic might be building up etc etc.

also they talk at the same time as each other.

they are quite nice though.

Teenybitsad · 22/02/2011 14:24

She rearranges my pan cupboards when she stays and cleans all my shelves....she sticksweird tacky transfers on all my windows...those that look like "stained glass"...always dolphins and angels.

She is also lovely in some ways though...vry generous and kind to my DC.

perfumedlife · 22/02/2011 14:26

My mil took in dh's exwife, just as she was taking him to court on false pretenses, forcing us to cancel our wedding. I would have understood more if it was to help put a roof over my stepson's head, but it wasn't as he was living with exwife's parents and dh was paying ex £1200 per month.

So, first time i met mil, I met dh's exwife in the same kitchen, was really lovely, then an hour later in court.

Still, she was threatened with jail by the judge, every cloud and all that.

Don't really see eye to eye with mil now, strangely enough.

manicbmc · 22/02/2011 14:32

I'm sure there are some lovely MILs out there. Wish mine had been one.

She is the ex mil now thank god.

When I found out I was having twins she told everyone she could think of that I'd never cope and wasn't cut out for motherhood.

Whilst heavily pregnant, and only managing to fit into leggings as no maternity wear would fit, she told me that I looked ridiculous. This despite the fact that her (aged 57) wore leggings and looked a bloody fright. And also my self esteem was in a ditch and she knew it.

I lived with her as ex and I were supposed to be saving for a deposit (he drank all the savings which is entirely another story). She never helped when twins were babies.

She told me I couldn't breastfeed as I wouldn't have enough milk.

She constantly undermined anything I did.

When I got a part time job she told me I shouldn't be working. Then my hours were reduced and she told me I should be taking on a second job to bring more money in.

If dd goes to visit her she bitches about me to her. So now that dd has decided she can't be bothered with the old trout it is my fault. Hmm

Apparently I am responsible for making ds autistic because I had him immunised, when it was quite clear from birth that all was not as it should be.

There are so many other incidents. I lived with her for 15 years until I found the strength to leave her twat of a son.

I really wish I'd had a lovely mil.

manicbmc · 22/02/2011 14:35

Also she defended ex's drinking habits as 'normal' and made me feel like it was me that had the problem. Saying 'but he's been at work all day, he should be able to go out for a drink' - going out for a drink involved getting pissed and bringing drunk friends back when I was trying to settle babies to sleep.

She didn't think looking after twins all day was work. Hmm

saffy85 · 22/02/2011 14:42

God loads. Grin

Telling me very matter of factly that it was my gran's fault my uncle was born with CP as she was an "older mum" (gran was 35 when she had my uncle) which ofcourse is bollocks. My uncle's condition has fuck all to do with anything my gran did let alone her age Angry Apparently MIL got CP mixed up with Down Syndrome. Like that makes it ok Hmm it doesn't. I gave her what for.

Taking DD for a walk to the play ground half hour before tea time and not coming back. When I went looking for them they weren't there and MIL's phone had been left at home. Got my 1 year old back 3 hours later, sunburnt, starving hungry with a burst nappy and utterly exhausted from not having had a drink the entire time. Oh, and one of her new £30 shoes missing. Angry

She was utterly useless when she came down to "help" after DD was born. All she did was sit watching telly really loudly and eat her weight in biscuits then go on about the diet she was going to do, shouting over the noise of the telly the whole time and keeping me awake (DD could sleep through a hurricane) when I could have been sleeping between bouts of DD's colic.

Funniest thing was telling me to hide veggies in DP's food as it only way to get him to eat them apparently. She was deadly serious and got very offended when I left the room to howl with laughter DP is 33 FFS. Even he was embarrassed at that one.

We get on much better now.

Scorpette · 22/02/2011 14:44

My MIL is always pleasant enough to me but she is the most emotionally repressed person I have ever met. A list of just a few of the crap things she has done/does to me (sorry, this will be long!):

The ILs have never been to our home. Me & DP have been together for years but they have an excuse not to visit every time. However, she tells all her relatives that we never invite them and don't want them to visit. FIL works 3 days a wk with DP, just round the corner and MIL is a housewife who visits her sister every few months who lives nearby.

I am pregnant with their first grandchild. They have never once said congratulations or asked me how I am - despite knowing that I have been v ill throughout the whole pg and am under consultant care. 2 of DP's cousins' partners are also pg and we know that she sends them weekly emails asking how they are (she's only met one of them once and not even met the other).

I am 9 yrs older than DP and she is very ashamed about this - takes me aside at parties, etc. to hiss at me that if people ask how old I am, I must refuse to tell them or lie. Of course, I pay no attention. She also thinks that because I am older, I manipulate him and boss him about and try to shape him into what I want. This is absolute bollocks.

I have food allergies and she won't cook for me. Fair enough. However, she cooks for BIL's fussy veggie girlfriend AND she won't let me use her kitchen. Considering that we stay with them for a week at a time, due to the distance, this is fairly problematic (they also live in the middle of nowhere so I can't pop out to the shops or a cafe). When DP or anyone else tackles her, she insists I'm mistaken/lying and walks away.

Met BIL's gf for the first time this Xmas. She seemed confused when she met me and eventually blurted out that MIL had told her I worked in a supermarket and was going back to school to get my GCSEs. I have actually been trying to get funding for my PhD and I dunno where she got the supermarket thing from (makes me v angry that MIL thinks that is crappy, btw). ILs act and talk like me and my family are v common and 'rough', despite my family all being better-educated than hers and being much more cultured. Perhaps if the ILs would actually meet my family they might realise this?

Told us that we 'had to have' a boy as they don't want a granddaughter. We are actually having a boy and it sorta pisses me off that they've got their wish! Also told us they won't be seeing the baby much and don't want to do any 'grandparent duties', but dote on the children of their neighbours and other relatives.

DP is v shy and she never makes an effort to talk to him and tells everyone he is ' still attention-seeking' (which was her excuse for not doing anything about it when he was a child). He hasn't got a birthday gift for the last 2 years but his parents are v generous to his other 2 brothers (and yes, he IS the middle one - did you guess?!).

Oh, and she never washes her hands before or after cooking (and I mean she does the gardening then makes bread with hands crusted in soil - her food often has grey and black clumps of crud in it) and doesn't wash them after handling raw meat. Believes that using soap is what makes people ill and laughs at me for washing my hands. She also sprays chemicals and aerosols everywhere yet never dusts or hoovers (I am allergic to dust, various chemicals and aerosols, so is a barrel of laughs for me!).

Am quite pleased they live so far away and want so little to do with us, but feel sorry for DP who loves her unconditionally. My parents are v caring, generous and involved individuals and he often gets sad that he'll never get that from his own parents.

saffy85 · 22/02/2011 14:45

It wasn't fun. But it was thereputic (or however it's spelt). And it's good to remind myself what an absolute nightmare my dippy MIL can be so I don't do something crazy like let her and FIL stay after DC2 is born in the summer. I must remember the shitty bits for my own sanity Grin

Scorpette · 22/02/2011 14:47

PS FIL is also no great shakes but don't want to break the internet moaning about him too.

Cakesandale · 22/02/2011 14:59

My MIL is a PITA. Not as bad as some of these, though Shock

But, to lighten the mood, the FUNNIEST things she does is:

We have a book on our bookshelf which has an artistic illustration of a woman's naked back and bum on the spine. An elderly Irish Catholic, she can't abide this - she never says anything, but I always find it turned around so the pages are outermost. Grin

PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 22/02/2011 15:06

not really MIL but when i was living with ex-DP his mum came and stayed with us for a while. I'd bought a top from warehouse a couple of weeks previously, which is pretty expensive for me. it was lovely, black and so soft and just bloody lovely! MIL decides to do some of the ironing while we're both at work, comes across this top... and cuts off the sleeves with a pair of scissors.

i was not happy, to put it politely Angry apparently she 'thought it was hers' Hmm

hokeycakey · 22/02/2011 15:12

Porcelina that is hilarious!

Some of these are worse than "annoying"

I absolutely love MIL but she is a bit of a bulldozer when my ds was born I said that we probably wouldn't use a dummy, the next day a parcel hits the mat addressed to 8 week old ds containing 2 dummies.

linziluv · 22/02/2011 15:12

My MIL is generally great...just a few grievances!...
-puts pressure on me to potty train 2.5 yo DS as her kids were obviously all out of nappies by 11 months old Hmm.
-makes me feel like the worst mother ever when he falls...particularly if he bruises...I mean, how stupid can one be to not use those eyes in the back of ones head! I'm particularly heinous if I've not took him to A&E after every fall!
-makes me feel like shit if DS has a dirty face....I personally give up after wiping it 20 times! Boys will be boys u know!

manicbmc · 22/02/2011 15:18

I was the terribly neglectful mother who didn't take dcs to the doctor with every sniffle! The fact that she'd had her kids to the doctor every other week and the ex ended up with a serious penicillin allergy didn't register with her at all.

She once shouted at dd for climbing 3 ft up an apple tree in the garden because she would fall and die!

She used to bitch about the perfectly lovely neighbours. She didn't think the one with 3 kids should be out in the garden with her little ones doing the garden! Like it was any of her business anyway.

She called my dd a 'little bitch' when she didn't get her own way because dd was under the weather and didn't want to go to the coast with her so she could sit in a pub drinking.

AppleyEverAfter · 22/02/2011 15:23

My MIL is pretty good, annoys me sometimes but recently has been sticking up for me to a slightly moody DH, telling him he is too hard on me! Grin

PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 22/02/2011 15:25

i'm trying to think of some about current MIL, she's not too bad really, just a bit OCD on the clean and tidy front. we came back a couple of weeks ago and all of DD's clothes had been taken out of their drawers and 'folded correctly' Hmm

oh, and she refers to herself as 'mummy' around her dogs, and insists that DD call them 'uncles' really, really drives me mad!

manicbmc · 22/02/2011 15:27

I could cope with the slightly eccentric. It's just the totally mean that grates.

PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 22/02/2011 15:30

yeah, this MIL is definitely better than the old one! if she asked us round for dinner it wasn't unheard of for her to cook for JUST ex-DP. i'd make myself a sandwich. oh, and the comments such as 'it's funny how DP has ended up with you. he always went for good looking girls...' Angry

sahara13 · 22/02/2011 15:35

My mil has 8 grandchildren all of which are boys-3 are mine. After each birth she cannot hide her dissapointment and says 'when will someone give me a grand daughter'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least we know how she feels i suppose!!

babyicebean · 22/02/2011 15:47

Mine is just bonkers.

Can't cook - even the kids tell her and she agrees

Doesn't listen to anything

Talks constantly without taking a pause for breath

Repeats the same stories over and over and over and over and over and all the stories are about people who I have no idea who they are or people who have dies

Constantly 'doing' things in as much as she never sits still ever

Starts something and then wanders off

Actually reading that back she sounds like a small child but she is lovely in small doses

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