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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU for banning in laws from grandchild after nasty comments & refusing to apologise?

145 replies

Bonnie3944 · 04/01/2024 15:49

Iv made a previous post about this but there’s been updates since. for context, MIL & FIL we’re going on holiday over Xmas, we got into a huge fight because she had asked us to visit before Xmas so DS could open his Xmas present early as they wouldn’t be able to see him open it on Xmas day. She picked a day & said it was the only day she was free, DP changed his shift with someone at work so he would be available at her request. We all agreed on the day & time, the day comes & she keeps delaying us with later times, example (“just got a few errands, can we change it to 4pm? just got to pop here to grab something, can we make it 6 instead? Stuck in traffic, will be about half 6”) DP & I were annoyed but waited it out, got to half 6 & we got delayed again with “only just got to your nans so will need to be later”, at this point DP said it’s getting too late now, DS would be asleep soon. DP calls MIL & tells her & essentially tells her it’s too late now & we have waited all day already, MIL starts guilt tripping him with “so now I can’t see my grandson till after the holidays?”, I jumped in (I admit I probably shouldn’t of, it should of been between DP & MIL but I was just annoyed & wound up in the heat of the moment & hearing her using DS to guilt trip DP only wound me up more) & basically said “You had your chance to see him today but you have been unreliable & keep failing to stick to the plans YOU set, if you knew you were going to be busy you should of said so before your son changed his shifts at your demand” she starts mouthing off & tells me to “stop barking” tells DP to “put a muzzle on it” & “son get it on a leash would you” & “son would you tell it to shut up”, constantly referring to me as ‘IT’ & a dog & continuously trying to shush me, to which DP tells her not to talk to me like that & tells her he’s going to hang up if she carry’s on, she gets pissy with DP for backing me up & hangs up on him.

We’ve been no contact since & myself & DP had ultimately decided to cut all ties with them after MIL’s vulgar comments & made the decision to keep DS away from MIL, up until today where FIL messaged DP & just asked “so when do we get the see DGS then”, DP decided the best course of action would be to ignore them because it would only stir things up again & we didn’t want another argument. FIL kept messaging asking DP “why are you ignoring me? Why aren’t you answering me?”, DP responded saying “you can see DS once mom has apologised & learns to respect his parents” FIL then said “you know how stubborn your mom is, she’ll never apologise, you can’t seriously ban us from seeing him, OP (myself) needs to learn to let things go” DP hasn’t responded cause it’s just winding us up all over again.
I can’t help but feel like surely if they loved their son & grandson enough they’d be willing to apologise at the risk of losing their relationship with them.
Am I being unreasonable to ban in laws from seeing DS after such vulgar comments & then refusing to apologise for said comments? How can I forgive someone who hasn’t apologised? Do they have any legal rights for contact with DS?

OP posts:
Salesarefullofcutpricesprouts · 04/01/2024 21:47

We saw fil for a while after being nc with mil. But then she made him choose... Sadly he chose her despite them not really being together.. She had left him and married abroad.. Dh met fil and literally pleaded with him to be a df /dgf. Dh came home crying. Fil walked away.. Broke my dh for a good while.

DysmalRadius · 04/01/2024 21:50

FIL is very much under the thumb, constantly making excuses for her behaviour & pandering to her, would always tell DP to ‘drop the rope’ when in a disagreement with MIL.

It's a bit rich of him to tell his son to disengage and then complain when he does!

Saschka · 04/01/2024 22:02

Your MIL's approach and language makes her sound 'uneducated'and 'trashy'. But then you say she has a demanding job, which somehow does not seem to fit

“Demanding” doesn’t necessarily mean high-powered or professional - she could work in a physically-demanding job, or work long hours. Possibly as a fishwife.

Bonnie3944 · 04/01/2024 22:06

@Saschka exactly right, she’s a career so it’s long hours & usually has to fill in for other people when they are off sick etc.

OP posts:
Rightsraptor · 04/01/2024 22:22

Grandparents have no legal rights over their grandchildren, unless they've been granted them by a court, which only happens in extreme circumstances. Certainly not just because the grandparents' noses are out of joint. Ignore any lies about these ghastly people's 'rights'.

There is no reason at all why you should 'learn to let go' of being referred to as 'it' and being talked of as though you were a dog. This is disgusting behaviour and is unforgivable in my book.

I hope your man continues to stick by you and doesn't give in to his dreadful parents' demands. And you don't either.

InAPickle12345 · 04/01/2024 22:38

Bonnie3944 · 04/01/2024 19:21

@InAPickle12345
Yes this is the one! FIL kept asking DP to approach MIL first to make amends cause he was ‘sick of being stuck in the middle’ (MIL would give FIL grief when he’d visit) DP did approach her first & they made up about 3 months ago, all was well up until the week before Xmas where we had this big fight which has led us back to no contact.

I remember your thread, think I may have commented at the time. This woman is toxic, bat shit, self centres and just full of her own self importance. Don't know how the FIL puts up with her, he's completely enabling her behaviour.

Cut that bitch out of your life.

She wants back in? Make her work bloody hard for it. Your poor DP

BayCityCoaster · 04/01/2024 23:08

Ohlookwhoitis · 04/01/2024 19:57

Yes how dare a woman use her voice or have an opinion. How very dare she.

Oh calm down - I’d have said the same if it were a husband wading in on a barney between his wife and her parents.

The OP unhelpfully escalated it.

But what do I know - people having verbal show downs worthy of second-rate soap is about as far removed from my world as it’s possible to get.

Ohlookwhoitis · 05/01/2024 01:03

BayCityCoaster · 04/01/2024 23:08

Oh calm down - I’d have said the same if it were a husband wading in on a barney between his wife and her parents.

The OP unhelpfully escalated it.

But what do I know - people having verbal show downs worthy of second-rate soap is about as far removed from my world as it’s possible to get.

Yep, thanks for proving my point.

"Oh calm down" just for expressing my opinion?

BayCityCoaster · 05/01/2024 03:43

Well, I’m certainly expressing my opinion, so how does that work?!

Sorry OP for ridiculous derail.

Coffeespill · 05/01/2024 04:48

BayCityCoaster · 04/01/2024 18:20

I didn’t vote, but at a guess, people perhaps thinking the OP didn’t help matters by wading in and escalating the whole thing - instead of leaving it for her DH to deal with his own parents.

So she should have just been a good girl and taken the heat and let the man sort it out for her??? Wtf no. This is 2024

BayCityCoaster · 05/01/2024 05:59

Did the OP wading in help or hinder matters?

Coffeespill · 05/01/2024 06:09

BayCityCoaster · 05/01/2024 05:59

Did the OP wading in help or hinder matters?

Helped, showed she's not just going to sit there and take it - and it's not wading in to stand up for yourself

Mummyoflittledragon · 05/01/2024 07:38

With a person like this, it was only a matter of time before she kicked off. The only way to deal with high conflict people is to be totally suppliant. Whether or not you intervened now or stood up to your mil in the future is irrelevant. You were putting a boundary in for your child having made endless allowances.

mumsytoon · 05/01/2024 07:51

mottytotty · 04/01/2024 16:08

Fucking hell, I wouldn’t talk to my worst enemy the way MIL talked to you.

Absolutely right to go no contact.

This. If someone spoke to me they would be written off for me. Don't let your son Around that animal.

Sceptre86 · 05/01/2024 08:07

This is a situation where going nc is totally valid. If she spoke to me like that like hell I would be sending my child there. She's a narcissist , used to getting her own way and it sounds like she has been pandered to. If seeing your ds was a priority then she would have stuck to the time arranged, especially knowing her son had gone to the effort of swapping shifts so that they could see him. I can understand your frustration. In my culture we have a saying that we ask God to keep those who wish us ill away from us, even if that is family. I'd say that sentiment applies here, as an adult you can keep those that treat you appallingly at arms length and should. Being related doesn't give them a free pass to behave awfully towards you. Be firm op.

GreatGateauxsby · 05/01/2024 08:13

Ignore your FIL he is making his own choices.

like I said your DH is doing all the right things but I think some therapy to help him better understand the dynamics and that he needs strong boundaries with his father as well as his mother as his father is not a victim in all either.

he is an enabler and a flying monkey

Starchipenterprise · 05/01/2024 11:53

I hope that MIL does not behave like that with her carer clients!

NeptuneOrion · 05/01/2024 19:18

I am not a lawyer. I speak for bitter experience.

Grandchildren have the right to see their grandparents. On this basis, Grandparents can apply for leave to bring in a contact case. (C100).

It depends how much they saw the grandparents before the falling out.

It also depends how rich the grandparents are and how much they spare on solicitors and barristers.

For us, judges did not care about all the stuff the grandparents did or say to us. Police were not involved. So grandparents can see the children.

Be careful how you proceed.

PM me if you want.

whynotwhatknot · 05/01/2024 19:25

the fil might have case on his own as he bothers with hs gc but if you can count on one hand how many times mil surely that would go against her

StepAwayAndGoHome · 05/01/2024 19:30

EvilElsa · 04/01/2024 16:11

If she ever spoke about me or to me like that like fuck would she ever be seeing me again. Ever. Especially when she won't even attempt an apology.

This. I had a MIL who was a real old cow, but she didn't talk to me or about me like that. As a MIL myslef now, I'd never, ever behave like that. I have great relationships with my DILs, and see the GC whenever it suits THEM.

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