MIL christened/blessed my DC

[jubaloo22]

With out me knowing?!

We were talking about the end of the world, good being saved thing on Saturday when MIL says she christened both my children when they were babies so they would be fine! When asked what she ment she said when she was looking after them she rubbed water over their heads in the shape of a cross and said "Jesus i give this baby to you... bla bla" .

Now reading this back its just made me laugh which i should really do, but, i'm not religious and if my children want to be they have the choice to when they're older. I made my point clear about this when they were young and its more of a how dare she! If i wanted to 'Give' my children to Jesus then i would of done it myself with a big party and lots of wine .

AIBU and should i just laugh about it as there not much i can do now anyway?

[onagar]

obsessed about minor infringements of parental rights

Only because it means you were mistaken when you thought you could trust them. That to ignore minor breaches can lead to greater ones.

I started by saying it should be ignored in this particular case even though it was wrong, but for people to say that imposing your religious rituals on someone else's child behind their back is 'okay' is disturbing.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Jamie, even SGB said 'it's fine to shrug it off '

[JamieAgain]

Grimma, onagar. I know, but I don't accept the "thin end of the wedge" argument either. Not in this case. I guess we shall have to agree to disagree.

[tallulahxhunny]

I would laugh it off, what harm has she done? None

Its not like she stabbed it with a needle and drunk the blood now is it? I really dont see the big deal, but there are a lot of loons on this thread IMO if something like this bothers them.

[MittzyTheMinx]

Lol at Mumblechums joke

and completely agree with Dysgu. I am an atheist but this would not really trouble me.

I spent a very long time in hospital after nearly losing my life and was ona ward with a Muslim man, his family took me under their wing and often prayed over me and blessed me in their manner. I felt privilaged despite my beliefs and even to this day hold this memory dear to my heart.

It can all be about how you spin a situation, you can choose to be offended and upset or look at it as a caring GM, who in her own way was doing something special for her DCs . Unless it becomes a control issue, you could thank her and let it go .

[Lunabelly]

YANBU...how can I put this delicately...IMOHO, sometimes, people who have beliefs to that extent that they would do a quite (imo) bizarre thing, can sometimes be less than, (imo)...how can I say...rational. My own personal religious beliefs aside (you wouldn't like them), I would percieve that act as irrational and seriously question whether I wanted that person having alone time with any of my DCs. But that's just me, and I'm apparently hellbound so there you go :o

[foolserrand]

I think I would sit down with her and just explain, calmly and rationally, that she should have come to you prior to the event, were it that distressing for her. That you feel let down and that she overstepped her boundaries by going behind your back. I don't think I could let it pass unspoken "just in case" she does try this in the future. (I'm paranoid, me)

I got a lot of pressure for my grandmother to get ds christened, but had I said it was never going to happen, she would have begrudgingly accepted that.

That of course assumes you are that bothered!

[GrimmaTheNome]

I think the problem is that the OP said:'but, i'm not religious and if my children want to be they have the choice to when they're older. I made my point clear about this when they were young'

If she'd made it clear, then either the MIL is being simply disrespectful of this perfectly reasonable position, or else she is so superstitious that she thinks this act makes a profound difference. In which case there's a high probabilty she'll be trying to indoctrinate the kids later on. Which isn't a 'minor infringement'.

[VeronicaCake]

Please laugh it off. My grandmother got a priest in to baptise me whilst my Mum was out when I was a baby. Mum is an atheist, Granny was RC. But my Mum's take on it was that Granny was sincerely worried about what would happen to my soul and that the distress she suffered worrying about my not being baptised outweighed the irritation my Mum felt about being ignored.

But my Granny was born in 1906 and never really got to grips with Vatican II - her faith was defined by what she learnt in Ireland in the 1910s. I don't think my catholic extended family today are nearly as worried about my DD's soul.

[fastedwina]

Give the granny a break. She didn't sacrifice a goat and bathe the child in it's blood. Some seriously uptight people here.

[MonstaMunch]

I'd just laugh, Im sure my step mother in law did strange "forrin" Greek things to my kids without me knowing or understanding

did it hurt me, no
did it hurt them, no

how can it hurt if you dont believe it?