oh I AM, I KNOW, I am overreacting and the rest, but MIL is ANNOYING ME

[fillyjonk]

And why?

She INSISTS on my kids (aged 2 and nearly 4) wearing a bloody plastic BIB at every meal they take with her

I tried losing ours, a thoughtful Christmas present from her to us (note not her to the kids).

But she has bought more and this time carries them with her when she comes to visit so that there is no chance of either of her grandchildren going bibless for a meal.

It is turning into a stand off. At the start of each meal, including those involving only sliced apples and rice cakes, she whips out the bibs and sighs and says to the kids, "well, better get these on you, I suppose".

I am not sure WHY it annoys me so much, and I accept that I am making a mountain out of a molehill but it is SO annoying.

I could possibly cope if they were nice bibs and my kids were about half their current ages.

aghhhhhhhhh that would drive me mad, a 4yr old doesnt need a bib, infact my two and a half year old rarely wears them, only if what we are eating is really messy, soup or something?

does she bring them to your house? what about if you go for a meal out together does she take them with her then?

honestly how sad carrying bibs round with her

i would just say they are old enough not to need bibs, but have a napkin on standby for any spills etc.

Oh god that would really annoy the hell out of me. YANBU.

WRT your 4 hear old at least, couldn't you emphasise that he/she needs to not wear a bib anymore to get into training for school lunches.

Completely ridiculous IMO - mine haven't had bibs since they grew out of the 0 -12 month ones. And even then I forgot more often than not.

Oh GOD filly, in your own house???!!! I'd tell her, quite matter of factly, to f*ck off!!

This might be a silly question knowing the nature of the beast but....

What does your DH/DP say about this??

of what, lapin?

pmsl at this

I cannot actually challenge her, that would make me a sad control freak I think, and thusly lose the all important moral high ground.

These are fabulous suggestions and if it were my mother I'd try them.

The thing is that my MIL thinks we are a bit incompetant, and our opinions are to be occasionally humoured, but bascially ignored. So she won't listen. I have tried suggesting to her that the kids don't need them. I have actually SAID that they don't need them. She listens for that meal and just whips them out at the next, unless dp is also there in which case she just ignores us completely.

This is, I suppose, what is actually annoying me-the fact that she is ignoring what we are saying.

oh dp has given up.

This is very much a MIL/DIL situation, I think

She still goes through his drawers, allegedly to check for unironed shirts. i think he is operating on a higher level of pissed offedness.

YANBU, this would really get on my nerves.

As for going through the drawers - buy the biggest rabbit/strap on/gimp mask you can get & put it in there whith a copy of "singers weekly" or something

ps - don't personally KNOW if there's such a magazine

yanbu - you are a living saint.

make her wear plastic covers over her shoes the next time she enters your house.

my mil had a similiar fixation with covers for my sofa arms. she was frigging obsessed to the point of telling me she was about to make them.

oh def put some sex toys, lubes etc in his draw, maybe porn video, pmsl that would be great

not that i am evil or anything, but my mil drives me mad with her fussing and ignoring my rules etc so i totally get how irritating it can be

"The thing is that my MIL thinks we are a bit incompetant, and our opinions are to be occasionally humoured, but bascially ignored."

Filly, you have hit the nail on the head, this is what it is all about (it is familiar to me too ) Yes it is silly to be squabbling over something so small, but it is the fact that you are not being taken seriously that's the problem - doesn't matter what you disagree on

Insist that she wears a bib as well, after all old senile women may not be able to see very well and drop food.

For the record I love my MIL cos she's really nice, caring, loves us all to bits and - most importantly - DOES NOT INTERFERE!

That's true domesticgrumpess, Filly you must have super placid children Ds (2.4) would NOT entertain the idea of anyone putting a bib on him

at domestic's theory that it is about wasting food in the war.

How fucking rude.
I wouldn't worry about using tact or diplomacy as it obviously isn't her chief concern either.

Tell her to stop being so daft! Next time she comes round, could you set up a customs post at the front door and confiscate all non-essential items?

yep, the war, how did you GUESS

things were, apparently, different then. We did not have the luxury of plastic bibs for one...

re the sex toys in the drawers thing...ok am going to put this tactfully but...she has been doing this for a LONG time...like before we had kids...

NOTHING puts her off. I think she just filters stuff out