To hide from MIL in my room until I get better?

[SomeoneSaveMe]

My MIL is lovely. She's so kind, thinks the world of me and I love her to bits.

I became quite unwell in the last month of my pregnancy due to a pre-existing condition getting dramatically worse. I wasn't coping at all. 3 weeks ago my son arrived and I knew there was no way I could cope with a new baby and a house which had already disintegrated into chaos (my husband works away during the week).

So MIL packed her bags, got on the train and came to stay. Since she's been here she's done everything for me. The laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, shopping, endless cups of tea, baby-minding so I can sleep. Practically she is an absolute treasure and there is no way I can thank her enough or manage without her at the moment. But ...

She doesn't stop talking. Ever. Incessant wittering from the minute I open my bedroom door until I go to bed at night. She even stands outside the bathroom door so she can talk to me. Much as I love her, I may have to kill her.

I need:

MIL: Would you like a cup of tea?
Me: Yes please.
The end.

Not:
MIL: Would you like a cup of tea?
Me: Yes please.
MIL: I'll pop the kettle on then. I bought some teabags earlier as we don't want to run out. I was going to go to Tesco but my friend Maud doesn't like Tesco and would rather go to Waitrose. She used to be a air stewardess you know so she really knows her tea and she says Waitrose ones are the best. Although she admits Asda ones are cheaper. We have the Asda ones at church. They're quite nice too and Maud is right they are a bit cheaper than the Tesco ones, but the box is a bit bigger and they go further. The vicar doesn't drink tea though. Did I tell you? He likes coffee but only instant. He went to India once, it supposed to be very nice there. Maud's son went there once too. Would you like a biscuit with your tea? I bought some nice ones while I was out but I'm not sure if you'll like them. The biscuits are Waitrose are better. My friend Maud always gets hers from there ...
Me: ARRRGH!

I'm being an ungrateful cow aren't I. :(

My mum and my mil are talkers. My mum is like Maud. All about supermarket products, pricing, what people I've never met are wearing and saying. Mil is all about what's in The Times, New Scientist, latest research paper. Both utterly exhausting. Mil won't have the tv on. There IS NO escape. Mum talks over the telly. So you can't watch anything even though we've had a massive discussion about what to watch.

I have a 4 yo dd who never stops talking and a 6 mo who squeals with joy a lot.

I dream of silence.

My MIL does that talking and NONE of the helping...

piratecat
I may have paraphrased Terry Pratchett

Hope you are surviving, op.

She has been with you for a long time .. is it possible she's bored without her usual daily activities/friends?

My MIL is like that but a. not as funny b. repeats herself c. doesn't help d. with a hint of racism

YABU

My MIL is exactly the same. Never. Stops. Wittering. Carries on talking to you if you leave the room. And if she goes upstairs for something and there is nobody to talk at to, she starts dum-de-duming to some I recognizable tune in her head. And she leaves the bathroom door ajar so she can continue to talk at you if she needs to go for a wee. And she tells you the same stories over and over and over and over again. And she views the world through rose-tinted spectacles (which is nice but sometimes reality intrudes).

But otherwise she is lovely! She is DH's stepmother and both his parents are dead. I'm probably closer to her than he is. He was 23 when his dad married her so she has never been a mother figure to him. Was a reception teacher till she retired and was fab with DS when he was little. And she loves him to bits. She doesn't have children of her own.

She is irritating but lovely.

Try waking up with a "headache" today.

My MIL is like that without being helpful. She'll just witter on with the same old stories I've heard before oblivious to the fact I am trying to deal with the DCs. Three nights with her is my absolute limit. She's very me, me, me but she does at least play with the DCs even though she doesn't help in a practical way. Thank goodness for the internet, at least I can distract myself when she is on the phone. The occasional uhuh and mmm seem to keep the conversation flowing from my end.

OP, your MIL does sound sweet but I hope you recover soon and can manage on your own.

Record her. Leave it playing back through the radio.
See if she notices.

She does sound lovely though, so this might not be the best thing to do. Perhaps you could book a retreat for her at the convent of a silent order.

turn it in to something useful, ask questions, ask about her childhood, her parents, grandparents, great aunties, uncles, do this at every opportunity, and later on you won't regret missing out,

You will also end up with very detailed information, for your child's family history book.

and it's a lot more interesting to listen to,

my DH, is often amazed at how much i know about his family, MiL and her mother, have loved that I am interested, it beats listening to details of shopping trips, his grandmother has even told me things his mother didn't know,

get her going then ask questions, record if you can, your son will love it when he is older.

You are reminding me of going to a party at my grandparents where there was a bunch of men in their 70-80s talking about the benefits of ear syringing causing deafness - "the secret to a long and happy marriage is not being able to hear the wife" - and whether it was too late to start now.

Aww she sounds lovely, can we swap