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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Looking for an outside opinion

33 replies

UnicornDinosaurButterfly · 03/12/2022 23:39

I’m a lurker and finally need some of your wonderful (or not so!) opinions please…

Family unit = DH, 2 DC and I.

MIL came to stay for 6 weeks (from out of the country).

Excluding all the little things, I can’t get over MIL cooking specifically for herself, DH and her partner (when he arrived) - calling out those 2 by name to say dinner is ready, never making enough for anyone else and/or adding chilli so DC can’t/won’t eat (not that anything was ever put out for them). I know I’m an eedyat for not saying something at the time but I just can’t stop feeling very angry about it. DH let it be to “keep the peace” and now, after all have gone home, I’m raging. MIL did what she did but it feels disrespectful for DH to have not put a stop or rectified this in some way.

No DC were left unfed in this time (or ever), they are my source of existence!

AIBU to feel so angry about it all and feel so disrespected?

OP posts:
UnicornDinosaurButterfly · 04/12/2022 00:45

Timezoned · 04/12/2022 00:29

Tell your DH exactly how it made you feel , being blanked as such by his mother and him not standing up for you ,
next time MIL gets to stay in a hotel to give you some space and boundary’s and cooking in your kitchen isn’t going to be something she needs to do
6 weeks is far too long , a couple of weeks if more than enough

He won’t listen to me and I’m too wound up to talk calmly about anything :((

OP posts:
Pumpkintopf · 04/12/2022 01:16

Can't the three of you - you dh and mil - have a rational conversation? Where you could say that you understand that she wants to make some of her favourite dishes while she's visiting but could she make enough for you all to share - and likewise you'll include her when it's your turn to cook?

The way you allowed it to happen last time was batshit crazy.

forrestgreen · 04/12/2022 09:45

I used to get upset talking to my (now ex)h and used to write him a bullet letter.
It might help you set forward a plan for this summer, put of dh won't support you for this summer then she can't stay at your home again.

UnicornDinosaurButterfly · 04/12/2022 10:07

forrestgreen · 04/12/2022 09:45

I used to get upset talking to my (now ex)h and used to write him a bullet letter.
It might help you set forward a plan for this summer, put of dh won't support you for this summer then she can't stay at your home again.

I’ve tried letters and/or WhatsApp messages before but they fall on deaf ears.

I don’t think he’s a bad person, I think he’s emotionally blind - if that’s even a thing.

OP posts:
UnicornDinosaurButterfly · 04/12/2022 10:12

Pumpkintopf · 04/12/2022 01:16

Can't the three of you - you dh and mil - have a rational conversation? Where you could say that you understand that she wants to make some of her favourite dishes while she's visiting but could she make enough for you all to share - and likewise you'll include her when it's your turn to cook?

The way you allowed it to happen last time was batshit crazy.

There is relevance to this response…

we are a ‘no shoes in the house’ house. MIL’s house is too. When she started wearing her trainers in the house DH brought it up (I was upstairs) and she told him she never goes out in those trainers, they’ve only been worn in the airport, when we went to our local high street and shopping mall, to her gym back at home… so MIL hopes DH now understands that they have been worn very little so she will continue to wear them in the house…

I get the feeling that a rational conversation might be pushing it 🤦🏽‍♀️😳

OP posts:
OurChristmasMiracle · 04/12/2022 10:18

I would simply say “last time your mum stayed it did not work for me so she needs to find alternative accommodation (either hotel or air b n b) and you can go and spend time with her away from me and the children so that we are not excluded like we were last time”

whats done is done so I would voice the fact that you felt it was rude and disrespectful for her to only cook for herself and the men but would then move forwards from it and let it go because you cannot change it now.

KettrickenSmiled · 04/12/2022 10:21

He won’t listen to me and I’m too wound up to talk calmly about anything :((

As you said, you can discharge a fair bit of this in your next counselling session.
It might take a few sessions! - but how about using some of these as role-play for how you will handle the situation next summer?
Roleplay is helpful as you get to experience that jolt of feelings - the same feelings that are so scary that they often shut us down - hence your seething in silence. Remember your worry that if you DID say something, suppose MiL countered, & how would you respond ...? Get those feelings out there in the safety of your counsellor's room. See what it feels like to go in tactfully, to go in 'surprised', to go in angry or hard. What it feels like when your counsellor responds as if she were your MiL.

It's far less scary when you've already practiced dealing with that jolt of emotion.
That feeling of confrontation/fear/overwhelm/being able to carry on speaking.

There's no point beating yourself up for not tackling MiL previously, & you're right, it would be ridiculous to move out to avoid her next summer. So practice scenarios - see what's 'easiest' for you, tackling in the moment, or a pep talk before she even sets foot in your kitchen, eg
"MiL, last time you were here I was puzzled that you deliberately excluded the kids & me from your cooking - we don't do that in my house, we look after everybody. So let's have a chat about meal plans, who cooks what, & how to include everybody." might be a soft way to introduce it.
Or you could 'give her enough rope' - let her barge into your kitchen & act like you don't exist, & challenge her - "WTF are you doing, just cooking for the men & yourself? This is my home, & my kitchen, & I will not be treated like a second class citizen in it. Either cook for everyone, discussing it with me first, or get out of MY kitchen."

More immediately though - you also need to roleplay talking to your husband, who was a wet blanket while his mother was treating you so bizarrely & is now protecting himself by refusing to discuss it with you. As you can't yet address the subject without losing your cool, (hardly surprising) you need to be in charge of yourself & your reactions so that he has zero excuse to shut you down or call you unreasonable. So even if it takes a few sessions before you are ready - something like "DH I know you don't like talking about this but if MiL's summer visit is going to have any chance of being a success, these are the ground rules ... btw I will NOT be shut down by you on this subject, & I will NOT be treated as if I don't exist by your mother, so it's in your best interests to work with me on this"

You need to make him understand that continuing to stonewall his wife will have worse consequences for him than standing up to his mother.
I wouldn't ask him to tackle her on your behalf either - he'll either fail to do it, or he'll muff it, or he'll make you out to be the crazy, demanding one who he has to pacify. Deal with her yourself. Remember - it is YOUR KITCHEN, & what you say goes. DH doesn't count as a kitchen owner in this scenario - he hung you out to dry to appease his rude mother. He's still doing it now - his slight discomfort about discussing it with you seems to be far more important to him than your wounded feelings.

KettrickenSmiled · 04/12/2022 10:24

There is relevance to this response…

we are a ‘no shoes in the house’ house. MIL’s house is too. When she started wearing her trainers in the house DH brought it up (I was upstairs) and she told him she never goes out in those trainers, they’ve only been worn in the airport, when we went to our local high street and shopping mall, to her gym back at home… so MIL hopes DH now understands that they have been worn very little so she will continue to wear them in the house…

I get the feeling that a rational conversation might be pushing it

So don't expect rational discussion.
Just lay down the law.
"What the fuck are you doing taking over my kitchen & acting like I'm invisible" would be a good starting point.

What's the worst that can happen?
Blazing row? Fine.
Tears & tantrums? Fine.
Appealing to her son? Fine. He can fuck off out of your kitchen too.

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