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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to worry that I'll end up as a sidelined mil

42 replies

Mavornia · 27/05/2008 08:37

Maybe not the right place to post, couldn't think where else it should go

I have problems with my mil (along with half of mn it seems ;) and I was just thinking how sad it would be if I ended up on the sidelines in years to come with my own ds. I look at ds's little fuzzy head, especially when he's asleep and all curled up into me and think how I just couldn't bear not to be close to him when he's grown up.

So many peope don't see their parents much and in-laws in particular seem to be the bane of so many of our lives.

Just fretting thinking of a time when it might be me

OP posts:
ItsGrimUpNorth · 27/05/2008 11:58

I really really look forward to having a thoroughly busy and entertaining life of my own, not dependent on my children for entertainment or company. I intend to grow old disgracefully!

I think if you put pressure on your adult kids, they'll run a mile. Most people would in any kind of relationship.

If you're a nice MIL who doesn't need to control or undermine, chances are your future DILs will welcome you with open arms.

2point4kids · 27/05/2008 12:04

I have 2 DS's and I hope that their partners when they are older will want me still involved in their lives! It is something that I wonder about too as I do see SO many horrible posts about MILs on here.

On the other hand my MIL is fab. We are very close as a whole family. In fact she sees me, DH and the boys a lot more than she sees her 2 daughters (they live further away though) so I hope I can have a similar relationship to ours with my future DILs!

Reasons that make her great: She helps out a lot, well she offers to help out a lot (thats the key thing, she offers but doesnt impose herself on us so I can accept help when I need it rather than all the time). She also doesnt interfere as in force her opinions on bringing up children onto me even though we have quite different ideas on some things. She admits that she would do things differently sometimes, but also acknowledges that times changed and she tells me often that I am doing a brilliant job. Plus she genuinely loves spending time with the boys and has toys and all the equpiment at her house to make things easier when we visit.
Half the reason that we get on so well though is that I am quite a laid back DIL as well I think!
I accept that its her perogative as a grandma to feed the kids biscuits and chocolates as a treat and if they dont eat their lunch that day then so be it! They eat healthily the rest of the time so it doesnt matter in the grand scheme of things.
I also keep her updated with our news and photos and phone calls etc as my DH is terrible at that and she appreciates the effort I make I think.

WinkyWinkola · 27/05/2008 12:37

2point4kids, you mean see so many posts about horrible MILs on here.

Idina · 27/05/2008 13:29

well said winkywinkola. I wouldn't mind having 2point4's MIL for my own.

2point4kids · 27/05/2008 13:34

Winky -
God, I am slow today - it took me ages to work out what you meant! I kept thinking 'buts thats what I wrote!'

To be honest I suppose its both! Lots of horrible MILs but also a fair bit of over reacting/uproar about MIL giving PFB chocolate or doing something in a slightly different way to how the DIL would have done it...

hifi · 27/05/2008 13:48

this is very interesting, after a conversation with my mum and sisters, we couldnt come up with any mils that had as much to do with grandchildren as womens mothers.i think for most men their partners come before their mothers but not for women.

chipmonkey · 27/05/2008 14:28

My MIL is a nightmare but I think that one of the reasons she is a nightmare is that FIL's mother died when he was 10 so she never had a MIL herself and doesn't understand that the relationship between a Mum and daughter is different from that between a MIL and DIL and that if you keep sticking your beak in you will end up being sidelined more and more. I have 4 boys and hope that I will know better than to give unsolicited advice where it's not wanted.
My dsis has a lovely, lovely MIL but we hear very little about her because unlike me, my dsis has no reason to rant!

petunia · 27/05/2008 15:17

I think it's give and take on both sides. I always wanted a MIL/DIL relationship like 2point4kids and her MIL seem to have. But my ILs saw me as a threat, simply because I came along and married their Son. News of our engagement was met by stoney silence followed by a hissy fit (the first of many tantrums that I've endured over the years) a few days later. I've been accused of splitting up their family and they think that any sign of DH putting me and the children first is a major betrayal. And I'm not talking about arguments between us and them when DH might feel in the middle, I mean in situations like for example, what happened at Christmas, when his family were coming to visit and we were all ill (children had colds, DH had a nasty cough). DH and I had a major row about postponing the visit because he's scared of his parents and he didn't know what their reaction was going to be i.e would they throw another tantrum accusing us of avoiding them and not wanting to see them, like they've done before. The following week when DH wasn't any better, he wouldn't postpone the visit again. It turned out he'd got a chest infection that took 2 lots of antibiotics to clear up. But because he wouldn't postpone the visit a 2nd time, he was coughing over everyone and eveything, feeling like cr@p the entire visit. And he spoke to me like I was something he'd found on the bottom of his shoe, because I wanted to postpone the visit (something that would have been in the best interests of us all) and he wouldn't.

I'm a Mum of 3DDs, and yes I dread when they've grown and I'm possibly sidelined in the same way. But I beg any Mums (of both sons and daughters) and future MILs out there to think before they open their mouths. You might feel sidelined but if you make your views known, whether it's about being sidelined, not being put first etc, or show any hostility towards your childrens partners, you have no idea what damage you could be doing to your Sons/daughters relationship/marriage. My ILs have no idea that because of their behaviour, if I had to go through marrying their Son again, I'd think twice

3andnomore · 27/05/2008 15:35

tjhis thread had me in giggles....not sure why really, because , well, I have 3 sons and no daughter....so, will probably be sidelined....my plan of action is to be as nice as I can....tbh, whilst I wouldn't say I am close to MIL, we get on o.k. !

VictorianSqualor · 27/05/2008 15:42

I think of a good MiL like a good waitress.

Always there at that moment you need them but not noticeable at other times.

I've been lucky to have had two good MiL's, one that was a lot closer to me than the second but we went through a lot at the time.

DP's mum is great, I could call her at any time day or night if I needed her, but she would never impose her views on us, because of her way, I make an effort with her, I know she is besotted by my DS2 (her 1st grandchild) and play up her role as Nanny, I also know DP is her PFB, and make him visit/call probably more often than he would otherwise, I instigated a new xmas tradition of us going to her for xmas breakast as well, because we want xmas at home, as a family, she can't come to us as she has her parents over etc, so I suggested a compromise, which she loved.

DP says she has always been great in that way though, always ready to listen rather than talk and never judged anything.

I think a DiL has a duty to be respectful and decent to her MiL though, and mothers of daughters should teach them that. Remember that woman gave you the man your husband is today. MiL/DiL relationship issues always seem to be about one or other of them being egotistical about being the only woman in the man's life.
Get over that and it'll be fine.

Mavornia · 27/05/2008 19:39

mmm, think I feel more distressed after reading all this now - though I am going to make such a big effort to be a loving and unobtrusive mil

I have a mil who has actually cried tears of anger because I don't call her every day and that I don't call early enough in the day, she complains that she only gets to see my son every 2 days or so, that we don't sleep over at their house at least one night a week, that I don't invite her along when I see my friends...

oops, turning into a rant, I shall save it for another thread and just remind myself to do the exact opposite of everything she has done with me

OP posts:
WinkyWinkola · 28/05/2008 12:51

OMG Mavornia. Your MIL sounds like a two year old child. Poor poor you. Ah well. At least you know how not to be to your DILs.

Heffa · 28/05/2008 13:27

My MiL always told my DH that she'd hate his first girlfriend, and she stuck by her promise. Unfortunately for her, we ended up getting married (much later). It's only now that she seems to be getting over the shock. Her behaviour has destroyed her relationship with her (only) son. I quite like her objectively, but find it difficult to be around her because of things that were said.

We are gradually repairing our relationship now, mostly because I don't want her to be a sidelined grandmother to our LO but it is very hard after so many years of outrageous behaviour.

I sympathise with her, because I can see where she's coming from but she has been her own worst enemy. It's sad because I would love to have a great relationship with her but I'm not sure that can ever really happen.

MilkMonitor · 28/05/2008 14:13

She'd hate her DS's first girlfriend without even knowing her? God, what a freak. That is so possessive and Oedipal and gives me the heebie jeebies.

smallwhitecat · 28/05/2008 14:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

worley · 28/05/2008 15:18

agree with smallwhitecat, i never got on with my mil, she didnt agree with how we raised ds's and didnt agree with me bf (she even brought me tubs of baby powder so she could bottle feed!! i never gave in though to her) she moaned when i asked her not to smoke around the ds's etc. any how its now that she has gone (she died at xmas08 of pneumonia when she was 54) that i think maybe i could have maybe rang her more of something, i know she loved dp more than anything, and didnt like him moving out etc. her other son lives in the states and never rang her , didnt visit scince he left 6.5 years ago which is probably why she clung to dp.

god, sorry didnt mean to our all that out. anyway you dont appreciate what you've got till its gone, and i hope i dont push my future dil's away... (ds 1 and 2 are never leaving me anyway!!)

squilly · 28/05/2008 15:18

From a DIL's point of view, and seeing my mum as MIL to her son's daughter, you're always going to have a bit of a battle if you see the prospective DIL as a rival for your affections. Both DIL and DS will sense this and will resent it.

My DH really isn't very fond of his mum, despite the fact that she's an affectionate old bird who loves him madly. She made the mistake of smothering him when he was younger, so he couldn't wait to get from under her wings when he was in his twenties.

Now, he sees her as little as possible. She still drives him nuts by wanting to know every little thing he does and every place he goes. His sister, who's in her 50's, now fulfills that brief, almost living with MIL and rarely out of her pocket.

In terms of their current replationship, our DD provides the glue between the members of his family and there's no real warmth between DH, his mum and his sister at all. I used to find it a bit sad, but now, I'm similarly disillusioned with his know-it-all, control-freak mum.

My mum, in contrast, is quite hands off...almost to the point where it constitutes abuse LOL! Yet I love my mum madly and do anything I can to see her regularly. Go figure!

My mums son-in-laws think she's the perfect MIL. Hands off, supportive when needed, but generally, not very interfering.

My mum's DIL thinks she's a harridan. I can't figure out why, but it's an unavoidable truth.

So Mavornia.... I hope you manage to pull off that rare thing of getting a good relationship with your future DIL (or his same sex partner, if that happens to happen). I personally think you'll be in the minority if that happens, judging from familial experience and anecdoctal stuff from friends too.

Brainwashing may seem a good idea now, but long term? It might just backfire on you!

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