MIL and a Wet Kipper

[piedpiper4]

Just to say....I know that people have a lot of more pressing worries than this, but humour is needed before I explode please!!!

I have the dreaded MIL from hell staying with us at the moment. After 25 years of living hell, I can safely say that evil does exist, and at this present moment it has its feet on my sofa!

Lunch time today, my dd(7) was eating her soup, when Granny suddenly stands up saying she's going to get a spoon. DD tells her she has a spoon for her yoghurt, to which Granny replies that she needs another spoon so that she can eat some of DD's soup!

Even though I asked MIL not to touch DD's soup, she still proceeded to get her spoon and eat some! (I'd left the room when she did this, and DD was shocked that an adult would act this way...have had 'the chat' with DD and said it's OK to say no to Granny). A chat will be had with MIL later, but think it would be less than positive to act at this second!

OK, so my dilemma is this......whilst I don't condone violence, WIBU to hit MIL around the head with a wet kipper or some other Benny Hill esque stunt?! Jokes please, because I really feel I might explode.

Thank you!

Give MIL something nice to eat that requires a spoon.
Give DD a spoon also.
Say "I'm sure you won't mind sharing with DD, sure she gave you some of her soup earlier".
(use nicest voice possible)
Sit back and watch cat's bum mouth appear!

Didn't granny get her own soup? Are you starving her?

I think there's more to this than meets the eye, because IMHO this doesn't sound too bad... she's obviously pressing your buttons though.

But she is your MIL and if she's a real toad, then YANBU to hit her in the face with a kipper (or better still, that old bit of sardine that's been lurking around the back of the fridge for weeks)

A revenge spoon attack...now there's an idea!
Granny had her chosen 3 course lunch all nicely laid out in front of her, but apparently decided she favoured the soup instead!

Really?

Do people have nothing better to 'explode' over? Meh.

You're right LNC, there's lots more to this and I suppose because of that, this just crosses so many boundaries for me. TBH though, whilst I might 'share' food with OH or DD, I wouldn't dream of doing it with anyone else. I guess it's personal preference.

Now this sounds perfectly normal to me! Why on earth does it upset you so much? Having a "chat" about grandma nicking a few spoonfuls of soup- all this "shocked at an adult acting this way" .........bizarre!

Ah, I see.

My in-laws have been here at the weekend. We were having brunch - fry up and toast. MIL tried to pinch my toast off my plate because she couldn't be arsed to butter her own. She did not succeed though.

Some people are a bit like this with other people's food. I'm not. She has got the picture now, my chips are not available if we are eating out, and if she wants pudding she'd better order her own as mine is not for sharing.

Hi Kayano, nice to see you here. I did put a disclaimer right at the beginning of my OP. Meh.

Teach DD to yell "joey doesn't share food!" a la friends

Pineapple - I'm with Joey.

I know but it was totally meh

Even bendy hill is meh today

Mehhhhh

Thanks ER. I guess I never thought of it from that angle. In my small world, it's not OK to take or share other peoples food unless of course it is offered. But I can see from some posters reactions and from what you've written, that this is not always the case.

My inlaws are like this with my DS, whenever he is eating say a scotch pancake or a bag of crisps they always beg him for food, it's a bit odd and rude TBH, he usually says no though, he's only 3 so doesn't do sharing

Well, if she just wanted to try some, maybe.

But to decide to share someone´s meal?

Someone who she probably knew wouldn´t object?

Wierd!

No the wet kipper is a bad idea.

Instead seeing as MIL likes soup so much, I suggest you feed her nothing but soup for the rest of her visit and every time she comes in future.

What you have to do is see if it works both ways, will Granny be happy to let your daughter have some of her dessert?

If not, you've just got a selfish Granny.

A slap with a wet kipper is an entirely appropriate response to plate food stealing.

As long as you have a spare wet kipper to hand.

If not, haddock might work well, but I would advise against using lobster.

Sorry Kayano. I'm having a severe sense of humour failure today. 25 years of being passive aggressive so that my MIL doesn't destroy her family does that to you. Guess you could say that this is the spoon that will break the camels back!

My boys are well trained, they do not let people pinch food from their plates.

It is odd, I think it's down to different family expectations. Husband said growing up it was very much "everyone for themselves" when it came to food in their family. We were more "family hold back".

Give her soup for dinner and your Dd a three course meal...

Yeah, kipper her! And I third teaching your DD the "Joey doesn't share food" line for extra impact

You're clearly not feeding your MIL enough, she's so starving she has to steal your childs soup. Double the portion size of everything.

It's very rude to take food off someone's plate without their permission. I think in some family's permission is assumed and if that's what works for them then fine, but it clearly isn't the case in your family. Taking food off a child seems a bit bullying to me, I get the impression there's a lot more to it that you're feeling the urge to go into right now. Go ahead and slap her with a kipper, I'm sure she has it coming.