To be irritated by MIL constantly asking me what she should wear?

[MsQuoted]

We're on holiday with MIL. We are somewhere very cold with lots of snow.

I'm incredibly fond of MIL but every time we've been getting ready to leave the house she asks me what sort of clothing she should wear. And it's starting to grate.

'Do you think I should wear a jumper?'

'Will I need my coat?'

'Shall I bring gloves?'

'Do you think I'll need a hat?'

Etc...

To all of which I want to reply:

'I DON'T FUCKING KNOW. YOU'RE A CAPABLE, INTELLIGENT WOMAN, WHY DO YOU NEED ME TO TELL YOU? AND WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME AND NOT DP? AND CAN'T YOU SEE IM TRYING TO WRESTLE A 10 MONTH OLD INTO A SNOWSUIT RIGHT NOW?!'

Just needed to let that out

Luckily, because we're on holiday I have lots of

Just shrug and say "you know best, it's your body".

Oh dear.....

How much longer have you got to put up with it?

Or, just say "yes" to everything.

Aw. Is she widowed? how long has she been alone? Or if not, maybe she's trying to bond with you.

There is a reason why she needs this reassurance
Try to find out why?

Haha
This made me chuckle. YABU, she's prob just chatting inanely as people do, my MIL does something similar, think shes trying to make me feel needed by consulting me on minor things, but I also find this maddening.

I don't think it's a bonding thing. I just think it's a personality trait thing. The indecisiveness is maddening.

I don't understand why she can't just look out of the window at all the snow and think 'yes, I'll probably need to wear a coat.'

Ask her if she needs you to wrestle her into her snowsuit too...?

But has she got nobody else? Maybe her DH (if he's gone) and she were like this together...."Do you think I should wear a hat dear?" "Oh definitely...there's a real chill in the air!"

Oh I hate this, DH is always asks me questions like this, I'd wish he'd just make a desition for himself. I swear he does it just to try and blame me when its the wrong desition.

what do you say in reply?

If you don't already, then I suggest you reply with a question

do you feel cold?
have you looked out of the window? Do you think it looks grey?
do you want to take gloves

and if she comes back with another question, then reply I am sure whatever you choose to do will be fine.

Sometimes people do this because to them it means if it is the wrong choice, it is the other person's fault/responsibility. I don't know if your mother in law is one of those or just a ditherer but whichever, the best way to deal with it is to insist that she is the one who makes the choice.

My DH is from Oz and he always asks "What's the temperature today?" and I'm like erm.....slightly breezy? A bit of a chill in the air?

We don't DO temps here do we unless they're extreme.

What he SHOULD ask if he were a Brit would be "Is it meant to be cold today then?" or "What's the weather doing today?"

That's because us Aussies take a very evidence based, scientific approach to clothing selection. None of this slapdash hmmm, snow, maybe I need a coat nonsense.