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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be worried about MIL after vodka in DD's juice?

264 replies

libbylove · 25/10/2018 18:07

A couple of weekends ago we had Sunday lunch with my in-laws. My mother in law had some juice in a lemonade bottle that she told me she'd made herself. She gave me a glass and told me it wasn't alcoholic. I double checked this and she swore blind that it was just juice. It tasted just like juice, nothing strange about it - and it was like 11am so I didn't think any more about it.

Later on during the meal my 3.5 year old daughter needed a drink so I asked my mother in law what to give her. She said anything on the kitchen counter would do so I poured my daughter a cup of the juice and thought no more about it.

Two hours or so later my mother in law was a bottle or so deep in white wine. I was having a joke with someone and she pointed at me and accused me of being drunk. I replied that there was no way I could be drunk because I'd only been drinking the juice she made.

She then chose to reveal that this "juice" was made from 50% tropical J2O and 50% neat vodka. She'd given it to me mixed with flat lemonade, but I'd given it to my toddler as was. And I had no idea how much my daughter had drunk. My father in law said her cup was full when he cleared the table - but I'd only filled it 2/3rds full so that didn't add up. Meanwhile my mother in law's reaction was "well, you gave it to her." as if I know it had vodka in it!

The whole next day my daughter was down in the dumps, didn't eat, had a headache, was dizzy and was generally too ill to go to nursery. My husband was at work so when I told her she'd been ill all day (despite the fact she'd been up three times in the night and uncharacteristically wet herself twice the day of the juice) he alternately said it was down to her recent injections/me overreacting. I had to flat out accuse him if gaslighting me before he accepted that maybe the whole situation was not ideal.

The in-laws have previous - when DD was barely walking they took her out and got her badly burned with splinters in her feet from walking on a pier with little/no sunscreen. She nearly ended up in a burns unit, and me and my husband had to hold her down as a doctor pulled out a dozen or so large splinters.

My husband has now started arranging for my daughter to stay with them for a few days. I'm not sure what to say about this - he wants me to have the conversation with them because it's me that's unhappy, but I almost need a script or something. Do I say they can't look after her? Do I say they need to take better care? Or am I, as my husband thinks, overreacting?

OP posts:
MrsTommyBanks · 25/10/2018 18:30

I was a very laid back Mum. No way on this Earth would I let your PIL have any unsupervised contact with my children. Ever. At all. And I'd would tell them why if they questioned me on my decision.

CandyflossKing · 25/10/2018 18:31

You're the one with the issue? So your DH doesn't have an issue with this? Yes you gave the drink but your MIL said to give her anything off the side and deliberately told you that the drink that you gave your DD didn't have alcohol! On a separate note, why was your MIL trying to give you alcohol without your knowledge???

SaucyJack · 25/10/2018 18:32

Your alcohol problem must be nearly as bad as your MILs if you managed four glasses of it without noticing it was vodka.

BakedBeans47 · 25/10/2018 18:34

How could a drink made with tropical J2O pass as being made with mixed berries?

MumW · 25/10/2018 18:34

If anyone gave me a spiked drink, especially if I'd specifically clarified what was in it, would not be seeing me or my children let alone having unsupervised contact with my children.

If my DH was minimising that, never mind that you had given it to your child, it would be verging on, if not actually, a deal breaker.

Spiking is illegal I might even be considering contacting the police.

libbylove · 25/10/2018 18:34

@saucyjack I don't usually drink. I suspect she thought I wouldn't drink it if I knew it was alcoholic. She thinks I'm a fun-sponge because I'm often uncomfortable with how she is around my daughter.

OP posts:
RuggerHug · 25/10/2018 18:34

I wouldn't trust her with a goldfish!!

Redglitter · 25/10/2018 18:35

It doesn't matter that she didn't know you gave it to your daughter. Her behaviour to you was shocking. The alcohol could have affected meds you were on, you might be pregnant & not told her, you might have popped to the shops in the car. Don't minimilise her behaviour.

I wouldn't go near her and I certainly wouldn't let her be in charge of my child

userabcname · 25/10/2018 18:36

Um, if my MIL had deliberately given me juice spiked with alcohol, not warned me even when I was pouring a drink for my toddler or got my child so burnt they ended up in hospital there's no way I'd like her. Do not leave your child with your PIL - please protect her. They sound dangerously incompetent and your DH is just as bad if he can't/ won't see it. Your poor daughter.

SoyDora · 25/10/2018 18:38

If you don’t usually drink, did you not start to feel a bit fuzzy headed after 4 alcoholic drinks?

EK36 · 25/10/2018 18:40

No way. Don't do it. Why did she need to lie to you about the juice?! Werid and creepy. It made your daughter ill. Keep her safe.

BewareOfDragons · 25/10/2018 18:41

There is NO way my children would ever be under their care after that.

Shocking.

And your DH is shocking for looking for various ways to not blame them re the alcohol ... what the hell is wrong with him?!?

libbylove · 25/10/2018 18:41

I want to say thank you to everyone here because this has been really validating and I feel so much less alone. I felt like I was some weird crazy dream land because my mum is very loathe to criticise my in-laws and my husband and in-laws have acted like I'm the one being weird. I didn't ring 111 at the time (believe me, I agonized over it) because they majorly minimised the whole situation - and I didn't want my daughter to be taken away.

So, next step - what do I say, and how, when they're all acting like I'm being completely unreasonable? I have no idea how to handle this, especially nearly two weeks after it happened.

OP posts:
DaisyDreaming · 25/10/2018 18:41

What if you had driven that day or even the next morning? Don’t let them have her for a few days, god knows what could happen.

BewareOfDragons · 25/10/2018 18:42

Oh, and what if you'd gone for a drive, not knowing you'd been drinking alcohol?!?

Or your child had passed out from alcohol poisoning?!?!

I can't believe the insanity.

BewareOfDragons · 25/10/2018 18:43

What do you say?

You tell your DH to step up and act like a grown up and protect his child and family from the lunatics he calls parents.

NotTheFordType · 25/10/2018 18:43

Sounds like MIL has an alcohol problem. It also sounds like your DH has normalised this - it's the way he's been brought up. "Mummy likes a drink, everyone does, it's just a bit of fun, don't be a downer."

Unfortunately it's up to you to keep your DD safe and if he continues to insist you tell them no then I would have no hesitation in telling them "Your irresponsible attitude to alcohol means I cannot trust you with DD's safety." That's all you need to say.

(Then she will cry and phone your DH and say she's suicidal, etc. Just stand firm.)

libbylove · 25/10/2018 18:43

@soydora I'm 6ft and 19st - and it was watered down with lemonade when she gave it to me.

OP posts:
Ravenesque · 25/10/2018 18:44

I'm guessing your husband's position is that she didn't give your DD the juice so why would you think that of her. Yes it was "sort of" her fault, but she'd only been having a joke when she gave it to you. Is that roughly it?

First, it is bang out of order to give anyone a spiked drink. It is particularly easy with vodka. I had it done to me once and was furious.

Second. She didn't give your daughter the drink, but her reaction was disturbing. If I knew a child had drunk alcohol by accident, I'd be seriously worried and upset and concerned and ...

Third. Your MIL was drinking vodka at 11am and then she got through over a bottle of white wine at lunch. Frankly she's an alcoholic and is not fit to look after your child alone.

If your husband can't see this then he has a serious problem. Never EVER let your DD be alone with them again. Ever. If your husband doesn't agree with you on this, then you need to have a serious conversation about your relationship and your priorities as a couple when it comes to the care of your DD.

LittleLionMansMummy · 25/10/2018 18:46

I'd be fucking raging. No way would I be letting her near my dd unsupervised.

RoboticMary · 25/10/2018 18:48

You are absolutely not the one with the problem here OP. Don’t doubt yourself. Shocking behaviour from your MIL, and unbelievable that your DH can’t see this dreadful, irresponsible behaviour for what it is. Never would I leave my child alone with her. Your DH needs a reality check - why the hell would he try to minimise this?

Lamona · 25/10/2018 18:49

I would be furious she spiked your drink even without your DD being involved. That would be a major red flag that I couldn't trust her full stop.
The fact she dismissed your concern over a 3yr old drinking vodka is just horrendous. If I were you I would be limiting your contact with her (she sounds like she has a major drinking problem) and definitely not be allowing unsupervised care of DD.
Your DH is putting his DMs feelings not only before the safety of DD (she could have been seriously ill. I would have been straight to 111 or a&e) but also before his caring for you. She obviously doesn't care a shit about anyone but herself.

Who spikes anyone's drink FFS?!?!

Singlenotsingle · 25/10/2018 18:49

Strange that somehow she managed to bring DH up safely. Is she getting on a bit, maybe, losing her grip on reality? Did she think it was funny? I wouldn't let her look after your DC on her own under any circumstances. I'd be too worried.

Allthewaves · 25/10/2018 18:49

Omg my husband would go through his mum. Who on earth tricks someone to drink

Ceecee18 · 25/10/2018 18:49

OP, just tell your husband that under no circumstances will his parents be left unsupervised with her. Ask him if he cares more about pleasing his mommy and daddy than his daughters safety. Nothing may have happened to his sisters child YET, but why take any chance with your daughters safety.

He must be really stupid to not see how bad this is. If she drank enough to seem affected the next day she could have vomited and choked in her sleep.

And you both had to pin her down and have splinters removed from her feet because his parents were so irresponsible. How was that dealt with? Was it just brushed off? Surely you had to tell the hospital how it happened? They must have said something?

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