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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Mother in law is a copycat.

143 replies

Loliie · 05/04/2021 09:50

Me and my partner moved into our first house over a year ago and we chose a lovely grey checked wallpaper for our feature wall in our livingroom. Everyone loved it except my MIL she hated it. But yesterday she sent us photos of her kitchen that has been freshly decorated with our exact wallpaper that she hated so much. Last year I bought myself new glasses and she said “they aren’t nice at all” and then she bought the same ones a few months later in a different colour. I’m unsure if she’s jealous or just a bitch

OP posts:
WhereYouLeftIt · 05/04/2021 12:08

Instead of letting her get on your nerves, why not resolve to get some fun out of your relationship with her?

Wait for her to say she hates something of yours.

Respond with 'So I can expect to see the exact same thing in your house in six months time then?'

Wait for her to get over her apoplexy, spluttering that she would never - NEVER, I tell youGrin sully her house with such - tat!

Respond with a sweet smile and point out her wallpaper, glasses, etc.

Consider it to be 'training'. Make it so unpleasant for her to make bitchy comments by having her previous bitchy comments held up for examination that she eventually decides it's not worth it.

She does sound awful.

MissTT85 · 05/04/2021 12:10

That is a good one!!, your message actually made me LOL.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 05/04/2021 12:12

God does it matter.

I don't get the ire with adults and copying, it's pathetic. Unless it's a bespoke design, I hate to break it to you but plenty of other people will have the same glasses and living room

Templetreebalm · 05/04/2021 12:15

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

God does it matter.

I don't get the ire with adults and copying, it's pathetic. Unless it's a bespoke design, I hate to break it to you but plenty of other people will have the same glasses and living room

Have you actually RTFT?

Its not just copying, the MIL is extremely rude and nasty.
Then copies.
Its bizarre behaviour and Op is allowed to feel annoyed/ upset.
God the endless minimising of others feelings on here is really odd.
It bothers the Op, she has asked for advice.

StillCoughingandLaughing · 05/04/2021 12:17

@ineedaholidaynow

Are many people ignoring the fact that the MIL is being nasty/rude about the choices OP makes. It’s not just the fact she copies what she does.
Exactly! Even if you ignore the bizarre copying, what kind of a person tells someone how much they hate their new wallpaper - and even their child’s name?!

The correct response, whatever you think, is ‘Oh, how nice’. The only time you need to be any more creative or specific than this is if it’s a homemade item; in which case you can use a non-committal ‘it’s very you’ in the hope one of whatever monstrosity they’ve created doesn’t end up in your Christmas stocking.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 05/04/2021 12:17

TBH if you tell people baby names before baby arrives then you're inviting criticism. Rule no 1 about tiles: wait until the baby is born and say the name. No one slags it off then.

Really can't get worked up about any of this TBH.

TherebytheGraceofGodgoI · 05/04/2021 12:23

@WiseOwlOne, I’ve been googling levelling and certainly sounds this is what’s happening.
I’ve two experiences of this and this explanation is spot on.
Years ago I was dating an older man whose much younger sister adored him and looked upon him as a father figure, having lost her father at a very young age. Her house was a exact copy of her brother’s house. They had the same swirly red carpet on their stairs, the same light fittings and the same paint colours in the living room.
I married DH when he was in his 40’s and all this time, as he worked locally, he went to his parents for lunch. This stopped dead when we married. We decorated our house and at one point MiL asked to see our bathroom. We showed her and she gave no response whatsoever and we thought nothing of it until months later when she told us to have a look at her new bathroom.
DH and I were speechless as we entered as her new bathroom was exactly the same as ours and we were not expecting it!
We move and have a new kitchen. Out of the blue one day MiL turns up and asks to see our kitchen. She looks and again says nothing. Having many experiences of her by now, I’m expecting her to copy our kitchen.
She does. It’s not an exact copy but styles and colours are the same.
She has also had a similar haircut to me in the past which has made me feel uncomfortable. The levelling makes sense of all this, thanks for the insight.

Teawaster · 05/04/2021 12:24

Good lord. How can people just ignore MIL's rudeness and criticise OP for her reaction . OP isn't annoyed at MIL for simply copying her, she is annoyed at her copying her after criticising her choices so rudely . This has nothing to do with 'low self esteem ' or 'flattery' . It's all about control

Templetreebalm · 05/04/2021 12:36

@Teawaster

Good lord. How can people just ignore MIL's rudeness and criticise OP for her reaction . OP isn't annoyed at MIL for simply copying her, she is annoyed at her copying her after criticising her choices so rudely . This has nothing to do with 'low self esteem ' or 'flattery' . It's all about control
Probably because this type of behaviour is normal in their families or they just like disagreeing with people on t'internet Grin
IdblowJonSnow · 05/04/2021 12:36

Odd behaviour. I'd say she's jealous and catty.

Stop telling her about your new things, preferably have little to do with her! She sounds like Hard Work.

Rainbowandscarlett · 05/04/2021 12:42

I had an ex who did this
I painted my bedroom a pale purple/blue
He did his the same
I bought a weight thingy for our bathroom light-he bought the same
I had an opinion on something-his was the same

It got wearing fast-it was due to his low self esteem and low confidence

We did the same to my (lovely) mil once-she loves the colour green so most of her house is green

We wanted a sage green for our hall so went out and bought paint (called sage) and painted it

Once up it was more ‘snot’ than ‘sage’ but before we had chance to change it the in-laws came round

We where saying that we hated it and was planning on changing it next pay day

Mil didn’t say a word but looked a bit put out

We didn’t think anything of it until I was flicking through some photos-one of us in her lounge

Yep-our hall was about a shade different to her lounge

It must have looked like we’d copied her,slagged it off and changed it...

ineedaholidaynow · 05/04/2021 12:42

Or maybe they are as rude and nasty as the MIL @Templetreebalm

Loliie · 05/04/2021 12:55

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

TBH if you tell people baby names before baby arrives then you're inviting criticism. Rule no 1 about tiles: wait until the baby is born and say the name. No one slags it off then.

Really can't get worked up about any of this TBH.

We waited until he was born that’s the worst part she actually said it to our son
OP posts:
Loliie · 05/04/2021 12:56

@ineedaholidaynow

Or maybe they are as rude and nasty as the MIL *@Templetreebalm*
I have always been nice to her and made an effort to spend time with her and include her in everything and nothing in return from her. Eventually it just wears you down
OP posts:
drpet49 · 05/04/2021 12:57

When you go to her house next call her out on it. “Oh you have the same wallpaper as us, but you told me you didn’t like it”.

ineedaholidaynow · 05/04/2021 13:01

@Loliie I think I would have given up with your MIL at that point, re your son’s name. That is beyond rude

Alreadyinmypyjamas · 05/04/2021 13:07

@AliceMadHatter

Would you like my Instagram so you can follow me?

TimeToParty · 05/04/2021 13:15

The posters on here that day “is that all you have to worry about?!” Or “you sound young” make me laugh.

If you have any level of intelligence you do have capacity to worry and think about multiple things. And it isn’t age related. Being young doesn’t make you less intelligent either.

For example I do sometimes worry about climate change and the Uighur Muslims in China, but also manage to fit in thinking about my job and my career progression and the impact from covid. On top of that I worry about family members who are sick and how to support them. But I would definitely still be very irritated if my MIL was like OP’s.

VenusTiger · 05/04/2021 13:21

"Love your spruced-up kitchen, not sure I'd have that wallpaper in a kitchen though, it belongs in a bedroom or a lounge"

OnwardsAndSideways1 · 05/04/2021 13:23

I also don't get most of the first poster on this- it's a) rude to tell someone you hate their new wallpaper anyway b) very odd to copy the very distinct style of another family member without asking.

She's a weirdo for sure, but the best thing to do is just change your wallpaper if you aren't that fussed about it in a year or two and say nothing to her about anything.

AngeliaFields01 · 05/04/2021 13:24

I used to have a friend like this, if I wore anything new she would state that she didnt like it, but then 1 week later would appear wearing the same item. I think its annoying because she was adamant it was horrible, if she said she liked it and was going to buy it , I would absolutely have no problem.

Catsaremybesties · 05/04/2021 13:27

Well when someone tells you they hate something yours - the truth is the opposite.
I had this many times. For example..
My so called best ex friend who hated my new coat so much that she made me to get rid of it as apparently too ugly- only to buy the same coat a weeks later and proudly wearing it!

PferdeMerde · 05/04/2021 13:45

You should have titled thread “mil was nasty about my sons name” or something like that. How bizarre the main thing you take offence to is her buying the same bloody wallpaper as you. Hmm

Loliie · 05/04/2021 13:51

I never said that’s the main thing I was taking offence to I only brought up my sons name because everyone was attacking me for my original post.

OP posts:
MarieIVanArkleStinks · 05/04/2021 13:51

I know one thing. If I wanted advice from Mumsnet about my MiL I'd substitute her identify for that of another family member. The responses you'd get would doubtless be a lot more measured and less prickly.

The MiL/DiL relationship seems very incendiary. As far as I can see this tends to boil down to competition (she sees her daughter's children more often than her son's, or DiL wants her children to spend more time with her family than her DH.

Unfairly, MiL is sometimes seen to be transgressing boundaries when they are set at Fort Knox height for her whilst remaining at box-hedge level for everyone else. By the same token, if issues arise with the relationship MiLs will usually see DiL as the sources of problem, rather than examining their own relationship with their sons.

On Mumsnet the stock response is that MiLs are hated, and DiLs should just put up with whatever behaviour their MiLs care to dish out.

As far as this thread's concerned, yes, the copycat stuff is childish. But when someone keeps up this low-level antagonism for years on end I can see how it would become very wearing. The trouble with this brand of passive aggression is that if you challenge it, she'll deploy plausible deniability and you'll look unhinged (this is the PA's get-out clause, frustrating though that is). The only thing you can really do is protect your own wellbeing by deciding where your level of contact should lie (because she won't stop). Then stick with that.