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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Frustrating In Laws

6 replies

SM1000 · 25/07/2017 20:28

Bit of a long story but so frustrated and need advice. After "putting up" with my SIL for 5 years and suspecting she did not like me a huge row blew up about a family party and whether we could be there. During this row she really let rip when i said due to other commitments we may not be there, but said more than i could have ever imagined. She claimed that every time we had visited her we had been so rude that she had been in tears every time we left (no idea what she was on about and when i asked her to explain or give an example she just became hysterical/shouty about how she did not have to explain herself to me, so still none the wiser on that one.) Then she claimed that since our daughter had been born (she was 2 at the time) her parents didnt want to know her kids anymore and she was sick of them always talking about my child. She then went further to claim that we were a selfish couple who just tended to go around upsetting other family members and only thought of ourselves, again i am at a loss to explain this as it was certainly not the case. She only referred to our child (her niece i might add) throughout the conversation as "your daughter". I asked her to please use her name and she refused. We had put up with so much from her, from being ignored in the Supermarket, to jibes about what we wore, you name it we put up with it. Later in the week she phoned my husband to claim she had gone too far and pass on her apologies, he said it would be better coming from her but she refused and asked him to do it which did not go down well with me as it did not seem genuine. For months after this it was very awkward and her attitude was awful, sarcastic to me and even rude to her own parents in our presence. I decided after nearly 6 years of this woman that i could no longer tolerate things and told her i did not wish to have contact with her anymore, i put it in writing stating my reasons and my feeling that her apology for the outburst was not sincere but if she wanted contact with her brother that was between them and i would not interfere. Since then she has been a nightmare, she claimed to Inlaws and other family members that I had simply got up one morning and decided i did not like her and for some strange reason had made up all these accusations about her. Needless to say and very disappointing for me they decided to believe her when she claimed the row between us never even happened and that she never asked my husband to apologise for her and did not know what he was on about either. This infuriated him, then we had MIL & FIL sit in our home and call us liars/trouble makers get round there with flowers and sort it out !! Needless to say we stood firm and refused to have anything to do with her after that, relations with the Inlaws have been strained as a result but it has been 12 years now and apart from seeing her at weddings/funerals where she regularly cries and makes a fuss that we dont speak to her etc all is quiet. Three years ago we had another child and MIL asked if we would be prepared to let her meet him , we said yes to keep the peace and the Inlaws happy and we never heard a thing more about it. We could only assume SIL had not been keen and that was that. We then had another child in March, was again asked by MIL if she could meet the kids, again we said yes to keep the strained peace and again heard nothing. This month we announced that we would be getting kids christened and out of the blue the Inlaws demanded that she be invited and that if she was not it would be likely they would not be prepared to come as it was mean of us not to include her. We were stunned by this and as a result have postponed the christening as we do not know what to do/think anymore. I feel like giving up on the lot of them !

OP posts:
TroelsLovesSquinkies · 25/07/2017 20:38

So long a your Dh has got your back and doesn't let them all walk all over you, just carry on ignoring her. Invite the inlaws if they don't come that is their loss. Enjoy your family and leave the drama queens to themselves.

coconutpie · 25/07/2017 20:40

Tell them all to fuck off. If your in laws want to believe that nasty woman, then that is their choice. But don't you accommodate it. I would have NC with them all tbh.

SM1000 · 25/07/2017 21:01

Yes i am intending too, just make an appearance when i have too, xmas etc. The Inlaws are in their 70s so i dont want to have a stand up row with them but i cant take this anymore, for the first time in all of this i think they are making me ill, thank god i do have a husband who supports me, if he didnt the marriage would have been over long ago thanks to their behaviour. I just dont understand the hold SIL has over them and why they think she is perfect when we all know no one is.

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emmyrose2000 · 26/07/2017 10:09

Were SIL's children the only grandchildren until yours came along? She sounds really jealous that her child/ren had to share the spotlight. If that's the case, then that's her issue and not something she should've taken out on you and your children.

At this point I'd write them all off. If the PIL are going to take the side and word of someone like that, I wouldn't waste any more time on any of them. I certainly wouldn't have agreed to her seeing my subsequent children after treating my first child like that. If you have a fourth child, just say 'no' if PIL try to facilitate a meeting with him/her. Her asking to see your new children and then not following up sounds like a control thing - she says 'jump', you say 'how high?' This is assuming SIL DID actually ask about the kids, and it wasn't something your PIL lied about in a manipulative attempt to try and get you back together again.

As for the christening, I'd just go ahead with the original date (or a new one that works for you if the old one has passed). Don't invite SIL, and if PIL refuse to come, just express a bland 'okay then'.

SM1000 · 26/07/2017 13:03

We are going ahead with the Christening now but doing as everyone has said and are taking the approach that it is our day and if they are more comfortable staying away then that is their business, we are not going to be drawn into a row about it. SILs kids were the first Grandchildren and to make matters worse until i came along she was quite dominant over her brother (my husband). Any trouble she found herself in she went straight to him to sort it and i think when i came along she felt i had replaced her in some way. Even he noticed she never called anymore and if she (on the rare occassion) came to our house and saw his car was not there just mine she would do a three point turn and drive off again, even hanging up if i answered the phone and not him. He tried to ask if there was a problem but she always claimed not, well that clearly was not the case as we later found out. I dont know if she is just horribly jealous/baby of the family type or just a nutcase. I am so relieved to know people agree with me, you start to doubt yourself after a while, when i asked Inlaws why these "meet the baby events" are never followed up as it makes us feel she is not interested, they just sat there and didnt answer.

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SM1000 · 26/07/2017 13:22

Emmyrose2000 - Yes i think this is all the inlaws work, she has no interest at all or she would agree to PILs plans for a meet up which we only agree to because the atmosphere is so bad if you dont. We have our boy about to be diagnosed with Autism and life is really hard at moment yet all they seem bothered about is SIL, i cant think of anything else to do so i am just going to stay away and husband doing same, he feels so let down though, it hard to see.

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