The Mother-In-Law

I always thought I was very fortunate not to have a Mother-In-Law.  My ex husband's mother left the family when he was a small boy, never to be seen again.  I had a friend who's mother-in-law was an interfering lady, who made my friend feel like she wasn't bringing her children up correctly and always outdid the present giving.  Luckily for her the mother-in-law is not an ex so not giving her so much trouble.

I remember my fathers mother, my grandma, and her hatred of my mum.  She resented my Dad marrying my mum and remarked that he was marrying beneath him and thought he could have done better. She also said that it was far too early for him to be leaving home.  This was because she was upset about losing the housekeeping money he gave her.  Funny thing was he used to visit her regularly and still gave her money on the quiet.  My Mum would have been so upset if she had found out as they struggled a lot when they were first married.  She would also have been more upset if she knew her mother-in-law spent the money betting!

The few visits from the in-laws always went badly.  There were always fights over how to hang up my father's washing.  My mother would peg up his shirts and his mother would take them down and peg them up a different way, tutting and saying she didn't know how he survived married to someone who didn't know how to peg things up properly.

Then there was the refusal to eat the food my mother cooked, saying that is was overdone, underdone, tough, inedible and leaving it all on the plate.  Hurtful to say the least, especially when my mother has spent her last penny to buy the best.

One a few occasions, she would stand up and gather her long suffering husband (my Grandpa) and say Ted we are going home, can't spent another minute here! Leaving uneaten dinners and a bad atmosphere.

I remember the day my mother was informed by a family member that her mother-in-law had died. She jumped, skipped and ran down the stairs singing 'This is my lovely day'  only to slip and fall down the last few steps cracking her coccyx and being in pain for weeks! In her words the pain was worth the celebrations hahaha.

I have heard many other stories of the mother-in-law from hell plus many wonderful mother-in-laws.  I aim to be a lovely mother-in-law and hopefully will be loved.  I still stand by my original statement that I am glad I didn't have one and the hassle that sometimes comes along with having one.  So celebrate the Mother-In-Laws around the world good or bad, just don't break anything doing it!