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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

MIL ugh

39 replies

loreli · 18/06/2010 15:02

Hi guys

this is more of an unloading rant than a question but does anyone else really dislike their MIL? I have always found mine to be irritating and haven't ever really liked her but since I had DS I feel like I am taking my dislike to extremes. I hate her having DS, I hate her bossy controlling suggestions and I hate that my DH never defends me when I point things out to him. I am trying to check myself to see if it is me being unreasonable (since having DS I am soooo over protective and am in danger of being one of those controlling mums so am aware of this) However MIL does things like offer to babysit and then lets me down ten minutes before (bare in mind it takes me all of my strength to ask her in the first place!!) or this week she just didn't show up and went out with her friend instead. Then she just turns up when she wants unannounced and expects DS to be handed to her so she can play doting grandma. I find her comments racist and bigoted. Yesterday she told my 14 week DS that she hoped he wasn't going to grow up to be a poofter as he likes flowery patterns on things. OMG!!!! I straight away said, we don't use words like that in my house and he will be whatever he wants to be as long as he is happy and she just pursed her lips together as if unapproving. She makes awful comments about black people and I would rather she was as far away from my DS as possible. However DH is a complete mummies boy and wont have a word said against her. He says her comments and ways are funny and she is just old fashioned and I should try to see humour in them and let things go. He accuses me of being too uptight and I should just chill. I don't find racism or homophobia funny and I certainly do not want DS raised this way. DH and I are constantly arguing about this now and I have told him I am not asking her to BS again as she constantly lets me down and I don't like her attitude (I am also told regularly how to do things like feeding/bathing etc etc) I honestly could just take DS and run away!!! Ok rant over. Does anyone else feel this way about their MIL?

OP posts:
ByTheSea · 19/06/2010 15:15

I loathe my MIL. She has been vile to me and shows overt favouritism amongst my DC. Thankfully DH and BIL take after their dad, who was a wonderful man and clearly a saint putting up with MIL.

loreli · 19/06/2010 15:35

our house isn't that big, which is also the problem! I am wondering if I started divorce proceedings now, would they be through by spring

OP posts:
diddl · 19/06/2010 16:05

loreli-will the children also be staying?

If so-7 extras for 3 weeks?

Totally unacceptable-unless you have an absolute mansion.

Your husband should be p1ssed off with your MIL for assuming that they can stay with you rather than asking.

Why do parents think that they have the right to interfere in/take control of their adult offsprings lives?

As for your husband-sorry, but words fail me.

Can you go on a three week holiday & let your husband deal with his brother & children?

Miggsie · 19/06/2010 16:51

Loreli, my grandmother was horrible.

I now know, 20 years snce she died that without doubt she had narcissistic personality disorder, absolute classic case. Favourite child, very controlling, scapegoat child, no one in the family could dare to contradict her, was always having a "drama" or ill, she was always right etc etc.

Anyway she made it her life's work to make her son in law and daughter in law's life a misery.

The daughter in law was my mum. Granny was horrible to her, told her she was an unfit mother, my brother's asthma was mum's fault, his eczema was her fault, my greasy hair was my mother's fualt for feeding me badly. She told everyone my mother insisted on a new car every year, this is rubbish, it was my dad who did that as he drove so many miles. She controlled everyone and everything and no one in the family dared say anything to her, in fact, they were so used it it no one stood up to her in about 30 years. My mother did try to defend herself, but got no help from my dad.

It caused huge issues with my parent's marriage, and when gran had been dead years and my mum was dying she turned to my dad and said "why did you never defend me against your mother?" When my dad was 80 and mum dead 10 years I FINALLY got him to admit his mother was a prize bitch, but I really wish he had stood up for my mum and not let her take all this shit.

Luckily my MIL is fine, drives you mad with illogicalities and inability to make up her mind, but she is not nasty, or vicious, or spiteful and she doesn't tell lies about me, so she is great, but my gran was horrible.

Due to my experience I can now spot families where one person acts VERY BADLY almost all the time and all the rest of the family walk round saying "oh, that's just how they are", "you are over sensitive, they are fine" and I just KNOW that there is a very controlling person who has bludgeoned her entire family into accepting what is socially unacceptable behaviour. I always avoid people like that now.

All you can do is tell your DH that her behaviour is bad, his denial of it makes him complicit, and how hurt you are when you put her feelings above yours.

My mum finally stopped seeign gran and stopped us kids going, for which we were extremely grateful.

Anniegetyourgun · 19/06/2010 17:18

Just to redress the balance a little, let me say that my MIL was an absolute sweetie. True she only occasionally landed on Planet Earth and she did have a why-don't-you-do-it-the-way-we-did-in-the-1940s habit, not just to me but to passing strangers (very embarrassing at times!), but she was very very kind and so relaxed for the most part that she was almost horizontal. She'd give you her last farthing and her last drop of blood. The only thing that got her really riled was cruelty to animals.

FIL, on the other hand... wasn't.

diddl · 19/06/2010 17:24

TBH I think my MIL would be OK if she didn´t try to compete for my children & husband!

loreli · 19/06/2010 17:38

yes Diddl all of the children too. Thank you for your support! Just had a rant to my sister too and she agrees with you and me that this is unreasonable. You sometimes you need to check yourself to see if you are being unfair, well it seems I am not. I get upset over things like this and it is too easy for men (DH) to say I am being hormonal and then I doubt myself and think am I? But judging by the responses on here and the chat with my sister I am not!!!

Miggsie - that is all so crap, it is amazing what destructive relationships can do to a family.

OP posts:
phlebas · 19/06/2010 18:19

I detest my ILs - my MIL is the least awful of the lot of them. How that family managed to produce my dh is beyond me - I hate seeing how miserable they make him, how he still wants their approval, how bittersweet his relationship with my extended family is (they all adore him & are generally pretty decent, warm and generous people - his family are deeply unpleasant - misogynistic, homophobic, racist bigots who take the Daily Mail at canon law & are losers who think the world owes them something).

I've been putting up with their shit for 10 years but no more. It was recently our youngest dc's first birthday (always a big deal since we don't do christenings) and they behaved awfully - making complete idiots of themselves with their nastiness, chipiness, Hyacinth Bucket affectations, dreadful manners & rudeness - upsetting my parents (who've been beyond long suffering) and our friends. Just like they did at our wedding (to which MIL wore a bridal type white dress for a start) and our son's funeral (they had a hissy fit because we invited people who loved our little boy & needed to grieve for him rather than a bunch of relatives we had no relationship with who just wanted to gawp & gossip about our distress). As far as I'm concerned I'm having nothing more to do with them & I'm certainly putting no more energy into attempting to mend dh's relationship with them

They've made it perfectly clear the detest me & my family ... the feeling is mutual.

lovingmy2 · 19/06/2010 18:45

Well i have to say its my family DM, DB that annoy the hell ut of me for lots of reasons...too many to go into here.

TBH when i first met my MIL i found her very irritating, she was constantly on the phone to DH when we moved in together, always invited him for tea (never me...the reasons given was we had a dog and i had to get home from work to sort her out and DH went straight from work). I could go months without seeing her which suited me fine.

Then we got married and i became pregnant...oh how it changed. She made a massive effort to see me regularly etc etc and once DS was born i finally realised why things between us were so strained at the start. I'd taken her little boy away and she just desperately missed him when he moved out. I was now a mother and i finally got it. She still wound me up for the first 12 months after DS's birth and still constantly says and does things that do irritate me but overall she is a lovely woman and adores our 2 DC.

If i had a problem now it would be her i would ring rather than my own mother.

I just hope i become a good MIL and not a horror bag. Although i know deep down no-one will be good enough to marry my children so we'll see in time.

Funny how alot of arguements in marriages are caused by family members.

loreli · 19/06/2010 19:04

well on the SIL/BIL/children from hell scenario. My DH has just come back and said on reflection he is really cross. His BIL has booked the flights for all 7 of them and hasnt even asked us if they can stay it was just concocted between them and my MIL and my DH has finally said I am annoyed about this...... This is a huge step forward! He also agrees with me that expecting to stay 3 weeks is a cheek. Its a shame we had to have a fight first. Men - why is it so hard for them to say I am hurt by this or I am upset by X's behaviour.

I agree Lovingmy2 - I am going to try really hard not to be a MIL from hell and have all of these ideas that I will be really cool and GFs (or BFs!) will love me. Realistically no one will be good enough for my son!!!!!

seriously there are some horror stories on here - mums should all take heart and stand against nasty MILs!!! Failing that drink some wine, eat some chocolate and take up voodoo

OP posts:
diddl · 19/06/2010 19:23

TBH I don´t think that there are many people who would put up an extra 7 even if they could- a night or two maybe-perhaps longer if there was some emergency.

We are only four living abroad & when we visit UK rent our own place even for a week.

We need three bedrooms which would mean either turfing my parents out or us sleeping on floor/sofa.

Plus if we have our own place we can get out & about & don´t feel obliged to spend all time with parents/take them everywhere with us.

allibaba · 19/06/2010 21:11

I posted on here a while ago about my in laws. I cannot stand them but this is because over the last 7 years I have been in their lives my FIL has made it very clear he does not like, I'm not good enough for his son and my MIL and SIL have all stood by and said nothing and then defended him when he has been evil. My DH although supportive doesn't front up to them either. Basically the whole family are nasty to each other and I do not want my DS going near them and being exposed to their toxicity.

Anyhoo, the reason for my post is that when I posted up my issues someone recommended a book to me called "Toxic In Laws". look it up at Amazon. I only got the book a few days ago but it has really helpful advice on how to deal with in laws like you have described ad DH's who refuse to defend you/deal with them.

Me and my DH are now going through this trying to make sense on it all. According the book I am married to the worst kind of in law (typical!) but there is a light at the end of the tunnel now, whether that will be resolving the situation or never seeing them again...

petunia · 19/06/2010 21:48

allibaba ~ I bought that book several years ago and it really opened my eyes! I could almost go through it ticking off the different behaviour that my ILs use/have used to get their way. It also made me realise that it isn't a crime to stay away from people who are supposed to be family, if they make your lives a misery.

I think the root of the problems I've had with my ILs is that my MIL brought up my DH to be like a 2nd husband to her and to be everything that FIL isn?t. So she had the good life until I came along and took away her little boy (the accusation that I wanted to ?split up the family? has been thrown my way many times). I?ve had 16 years of tantrums (an especially memorable one when we said we were getting engaged in 1995 and would be getting married the following year ~ that was a really good way of saying ?Welcome to the family!?), abuse over the phone, been ignored in photos and ignored when I visited them ~ my last few visits to their house, I ended up sitting by myself for hours on end. After every one of their tantrums, there was never an apology and I was expected to play at ?happy families? afterwards. Even when they threw their last one 10 years ago in front of DD1 (13 months old at the time) and FIL stood at the bottom of our stairs and shouted abuse up at me, I played at ?happy families? afterwards. DH's never stood up to them and the only blazing rows we?ve had, have been about his parents behaviour. 3 years ago, during yet another row about his parents he told me, ?Husbands and wives don?t stick up for each other if it?s going to upset family.? I quit visiting them there and then, and will never visit again. Since then, if they want to visit us, it?s now his ?problem? and he has to do everything ~ getting food in, cleaning, cooking on the day; it?s all his job. As the welcome in our house isn?t so warm now (actually verges on the chilly!), their visits have gone from 5 or 6 a year to once a year, around Christmas time and DH now visits them alone. And as I?m not ?sucking it up? now and doing what she wants, MIL shows her hatred of me by sending me cr@ppy birthday cards and last year, while everyone else got nice things for Christmas, she gave me a badly wrapped shower puff that from the smell of it, had been sitting in one of her cupboards for years (I did thank her for it. I know she wanted me to throw a tantrum at her about how dare she give me just a shower puff, but I?m not going to descend to her tantrum throwing level.)

The funny thing is that MIL has actually got what she always wanted; the tantrum she threw when we got engaged was because her Son wouldn?t be visiting by himself anymore. Well now she?s got precisely that; DH visits whenever he likes and she has him to herself. But sadly, if I knew 16 years ago what I was letting myself in for; I would have run for the hills. Having a husband that defends his parents, no matter how bad their behaviour, and who screams in my face (as he did a few months ago), that I?m the one that?s ?f*cked up? and ?needs therapy? has well and truly done in our marriage.

petunia · 19/06/2010 21:49

Good grief, that was really long!

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