to go against the I-Hate-My-MIL grain and give three cheers for mine?

[FfreckleFface]

Bloke took me away for the weekend. He booked an evening at River Cottage, along with a night at a B&B in a pretty little seaside village. It was the first time I'd left little Ff (9mo) overnight - in fact, as I am a breastfeeding WAHM, it was the first time I had left her for any significant period of time - and I was a little nervous. (Right up until my first pint...then I was like, 'Baby, what baby?'. But anyway, I digress...)

PIL got back from 3 weeks in Goa on Friday. Bloke convinced them to come straight here from the airport, so that I would have time to go through all of my PFB instructions, and let MIL put Ff to bed with me there, so I was happy that she wouldn't cry like a small banshee at being put down by someone other than me.

We got back yesterday afternoon, and not only was the baby fed, rested and happy, the house was immaculate, and the three loads of washing I had hid from the PIL in the corner of our bedroom, was washed, dried, ironed and neatly folded on the dining room table.
And the dogs had been walked so far that they barely raised an eyelid when we came through the front door.

These people are saints, and I give three cheers for them.

What a lovely refreshing change - I give them 3 cheers too. Do you rent them out?

how wonderful! if only they were all like that!

Could you put this thread on Mumsnet Swaps please?

They sound absolutely fab.

That's lovely.
MIL's aren't all bad.

no but i think yabu to make me so jealous

They sound lovely. Just like mine.
My mil tried to take my washing off me the other day. She said I looked shattered and she wanted to help. (am pg with 4th. I think my parents make good inlaws too so we're a pretty lucky family.

oh how lovely, have to say my MIL is generally very good/nice, she has looked after the dds 1 day a week since dd1 was 6 months old (apart form when on matenrity leave with dd2) (and my mum is fab and has them the other day I work), she will tell dh if he is being an arse and occasionally pil's has the dd's overnight so we can have a night out (don't tend to ask them that often as they have sil kids a lot an dmy mum/dad happy to have my dd's as they are their only grandchildren)

She does all this in spite of her own Mum being seriously ill (she used to live with pil but been in hospital since September) and if I/my Mum can pick he rup she comes to all dd's preschool events (sports day, nativity etc)

So hurrah to nice in laws!

my pil are not up to helping out due to their health, but they are lovely, all the same.

Yanbu, they sound fab

oh and she can type alot better than me

my mil is lovely too
I am just recovering from my first ever dose of actual flu

I rang her in tears on day three scared I couldn't look after my children

she came straight over with food for the kids, played with them, fed them, mopped my brow and cleaned up. she sent me to bed and then ran a bath for me when I felt a little better (fully drugged up )

....and then she came back and did it the next day too

unfortunately now she isn't well
I have offered to walk dog, clean house, fetch messatges but she says she is fine

she says thanks but she has no kids to care for so she can just go to bed and anyway I should still be resting to try and finally get rid of it

she really is lovely

How lucky for you.

I've got a lovely MIL too!

She takes ironing away and brings it back a few days later. She rings about once a month and says, I'm free to baby sit on X day so go and have a night out (she even gave us money to go to the cinema once when she knew we were broke!).

She buys and prepares all the veg for xmas lunch and she is an all round good egg.

Lucky us for having nice MILs!

I think you are so lucky and am very .

There was a really interesting article the other day - can't remember where - about the very high percentage of women who have 'problems' with their MIL. Very few men have similar problems with their MIL in comparison. The article suggested that competition for 'matriarch' status was what was basically underlying a lot of the conflict - women competing with their MIL for 'top dog' status within the family.

Personally I accept that my MIL is probably at least of of equal importance, if not of greater importance to DH than I am. She birthed him, raised him, has loved him all his life, would die for him. He loves and respects his mum a lot and we see her every week. I suspect she doesn't like me all that much but she's behaved impeccably towards me (apart from the week before our wedding when she told me she had a 'very bad feeling' about our marriage but she wasn't sure why - that ws 11 years ago and we're still together and happy with three lovely kids). I would never criticise her in front of my DH. Anyway, I admire her a lot - she's a very intelligent, modest sort of woman and a wonderful mum to DH and his three sisters. She's been very good to us as a family.

I've got two sons - I just hope they marry women as willing to play second/equal fiddle as me........

My MIL is lovely too. She is elderly and quite frail (and lives 200 miles away) so can't be too hands-on but she dotes on DS and she is very funny and kind. Also, she has never tried to interfere

Mine are lovely too!

I too have a lovely MIL. She has always treated me as part of the family. She is kind, helpful, understanding. She does not interfere, but she does help. Always willing to babysit, and has on occasion cleaned our filthy kitchen.
Three cheers for the lovely MIL's!!

YANBU - I'm really glad you posted that.

I have a lovely mil. I also have a ds and I hope I end up as a loved mil.

I have a lovely MIL too. We live quite far away from her, and I really wish we actually lived closer so we could all see her more often. I actually think she doesn't interfere enough! FIL is great too.

i adore my MIL too.
She is giving me (unasked for and unexpected) money for new flooring in the boys' room which is a godsend.

I suspect my mom is a great MIL to my 3 brothers-in-law, and I know she's great to my husband, but she had huge problems with her only son's wife. For some reason they couldn't get on, though I have to say that my sister in law was a bit of a trial when she was younger and wasn't very laid back at all, which is probably putting it mildly.

My own relationship with my motherinlaw is not great but we work at it for dd's sake. She's 7 and only has 2 grandmas left, thanks to us being aged parents. As much as MIL drives me nuts (and that's lots) she's not always intentionally mean...just occasionally.

I congratulate you on your relationship with your inlaws. And I hope my daughter will, one day, be able to say the same about hers. If she ever marries.

I get on great with MIL too

Yay! Me too. She can't help out that much due to increasing years and that she doesn'tr drive but I know she would. I just think that she is a saint to have dealt with the crap that DH's father put her through and come out the otherside still smiling.

I have great PIls too - they are elderly (late 70s, 50 years older than me!) so can't help much, but they dote on DD and have always been lovely to me.

What hearty reading FF

I am [feny]

My MIL has trouble putting the kettle on!