Maternal Meddlers: Tales of Mother-in-Laws Unleashing Havoc on Their Daughter-in-Laws’ Lives

4 Stories About Mother-in-Laws Who Tried to Make Their DILs’ Lives Hell

Together with their prospective in-laws or mothers-in-law, the women in these tales negotiated choppy seas. These stories highlight the difficulties that arise between mothers-in-law and their sons’ spouses, from handling husbands who are “mummy’s boys” to recognizing the oversight in their baby showers.

The difficulties of fostering positive relationships with in-laws, especially mothers-in-law, are illustrated in these four tales. Every story features people who had to set limits because their in-laws appeared determined to undermine them.

Husband continues to prioritize his mother over his wife until she issues an ultimatum

After her spouse had been away from home for the majority of her pregnancy, a Reddit member questioned if she was being unreasonable in giving him an ultimatum. The woman gave an explanation, saying that she had been seeing her spouse for five years and had only been married for six months.

When she was six months pregnant, she asked other Reddit users for guidance. According to the original poster (OP), her spouse and his mother had an atypically close relationship.

“My spouse and his mother have a very tight bond. He will converse with his mother on the phone for hours on end and spend more time with her than with me.”

But the incident that ultimately prompted her to write on Reddit was the last straw for her. OP requested her husband to help her prepare for the kid they were expecting when she approached the sixth month of her pregnancy.

He informed her that his time with his mother would be reduced if he were to be around more. OP acknowledged that, but she went on to say that at that point, she needed him more than his mother did. To which he responded,

“You know my mom comes before you.”

The Redditor was stunned by her husband’s comments, but she accepted them when he departed to visit his mother’s house. After that, she took care of everything on her own. Her mother-in-law (MIL) called her while she was alone getting ready for her baby and informed her that she had won!

Worse, OP could hear her husband smiling in the background while her MIL boasted about her victory. She was furious, but she carried on with her daily activities. When the couple’s anniversary rolled around a few weeks later, OP sent her husband a gift and made his favorite meal for the occasion, but he had other ideas for how to spend his time.

Her husband came back from work and departed again while she was in the restroom. She assumed he was preparing a surprise for her, but thirty minutes later, he had still not returned, so she called to check out his whereabouts. She informed him that since he was acting as though he was in a relationship with his mother, she could as well be the one bearing his child, even though he had confirmed being at her residence.

Following their phone call, OP’s husband and mother-in-law texted her to let her know that she shouldn’t treat his mother disrespectfully and to stop being resentful and envious. Looking to see if she was in the wrong, she turned to Reddit members for advice.

She updated her tale shortly after it was posted, expressing gratitude to all of the people who had encouraged her and assured her that she wasn’t mistaken. “I think my MIL is competing with me,” she also said, adding that after reading the remarks, she might have to issue him an ultimatum because things might only grow worse.

Her spouse said that his mother was a special person in his life when someone suggested she ask him why he loved spending so much time with her. When OP saw that her MIL had no intention of changing, she gave divorce with her husband some serious thought.

If her husband continued to act as though he was still married to his mother, she threatened to divorce him. He cried and pledged to change when he heard this. OP was optimistic but realized she had to speak with her mother-in-law, who merely assured her that she would never succeed.

The Redditor made it clear that there was no such thing as winning or losing and that her MIL would lose access to her granddaughter if she carried on acting in that manner. She verified that since she spoke with her spouse, he had also taken an initiative.

After feeling disrespected by their separate sleeping arrangements, the wife leaves their in-laws’ house

What’s the connection between a Facebook disaster, a barn, and a crib? These components set the scene for my Christmas horror with my in-laws. I’m Evelyn, and I’m here to tell you a story about lovely twins, eerie barns, and overbearing in-laws.

After two happy years of marriage, my husband Mike and I just welcomed twins into our family. In an attempt to mark the first Christmas season with our twins, Mike’s parents invited us to spend two weeks at their house.

I imagined a lazy two weeks when the twins were pampered by their grandparents and I got some much-needed sleep. We had not seen them since our wedding, so I was expecting a heartfelt and affectionate reunion.

Eager for our family get-together, I packed for four, including sweets for the in-laws and wildflower honey for my mother-in-law’s tea. It was obvious how excited they were to meet the twins, and they fell in love right away. It was a mother’s dream, but not without its complications.

The sleeping arrangements were the source of the shock. Mike and I were given different rooms, which seemed strange but doable until I realized that my “room” was actually a barn. The atmosphere of the barn, even with its warmth and bed, was not welcome. Talking to Mike about this strange setup didn’t work out; he asked, “What are you complaining about?” as if there was no problem.

When it came to the twins’ sleeping arrangements, things got heated. The separation seemed needless and harsh, even though they knew they would be in a crib in the grandparents’ room. They persisted, “Our house, our rules,” which led to a furious dispute.

Mike disappeared when things got tense, preferring to get back in touch with old pals over helping me. Feeling alone and mistreated, I made the spontaneous decision to leave. I took pictures, tried to capture the spirit of the barn, posted about my experience on Facebook, and took the twins back to the safety of my parents’ house.

My parents’ house is a haven of love and care, where I find comfort amid a flurry of angry letters and calls for an apology. We’re getting ready for a nice Christmas, so I’m thinking about what to do next and asking for advice—what would you do if you were me?

MIL Pays the Price for Breaking Daughter-in-Law’s House Rules

In response to her husband’s criticism of her approach to dealing with her nosy mother-in-law (MIL), a Reddit user asked whether it was too harsh. The woman described how she tried to draw attention to her mother-in-law’s intrusive actions, which her spouse had at first minimized.

She felt forced to intervene against her MIL’s practice of entering their bedroom without permission, even in the face of her husband’s disapproval. When she saw her mother-in-law going through private papers, she became more agitated. Her mother-in-law tried to downplay this by acting confused about where the restroom was in the house.

In response, the office and bedroom doors were outfitted with key-operated external doorknobs. However, the MIL continued, using forgetfulness as a justification to try to enter the prohibited locations, which led the wife to come up with a more straightforward fix.

The woman suggested securing the doors in preparation for her MIL’s arrival, but her husband thought this was unnecessary. They made a compromise by using a less common approach, which was previously employed to verify the MIL’s spying, to detect unauthorized entrance by adding tiny glitter to the doorknob.

This time, the strategy called for the use of a booby trap—a folder loaded with glitter that was set up to shower the intruder as soon as they opened the door. The MIL entered the bedroom against explicit directions to stay out of the upper area, setting off the glitter bomb and leaving herself covered in sparks. The original poster shared:

“She completely lost it and started screaming at me, so I yelled back, and now my husband is saying I went too far.”

The fallout was disorganized. After a heated argument, the husband criticized his wife’s level of reprisal. The MIL, meantime, bemoaned the glitter’s tenacity—particularly its unwanted presence in her automobile.

The wife went to Reddit in search of affirmation, and there was widespread approval for her conduct. Users concurred that the MIL’s disrespect for boundaries warranted the glitzy outcome, stating that adherence to house rules may have prevented her from going through what she did.

MIL gives herself a baby shower and declares that she will be the parent of DIL’s upcoming child

A woman asked whether it was wrong for her to deny her mother-in-law access to her granddaughter on Reddit. The Redditor found it off-putting that the OP’s mother was excited about being a grandma, even though she and her husband were expecting their first child together.

First of all, according to OP, her MIL frequently referred to her unborn child as her own. “I can’t wait for my baby to be born,” she would add. My child is going to have a lot of affection.” The woman was unhappy with the possession she took over her child, but her husband advised her to ignore the comments.

It was the MIL’s idea to host a baby shower for her daughter-in-law (DIL). The thrilled soon-to-be grandma revealed that she and her pals had agreed to attend their children’s baby showers and weddings. OP believed that the Reddit user owed her the chance to host a baby shower because she and her husband had eloped.

When OP inquired whether her friends may come, her mother-in-law declined. The elder woman informed the expectant mother that she could have a different baby shower with her friends, and this one was exclusively for her friends. The Redditor agreed, but she wasn’t sure.

The MIL and her friends were to get the register, so the couple took a long time to put it together and follow her instructions. Everything was focused on the prospective parents’ nursery motif, which was to be a garden.

In response to a question about what she wanted on her cake, OP mentioned flowers to match her garden theme. Still, she was taken aback by the baby shower’s circus animal motif. OP believed it could have been difficult to carry out her garden concept but did not make a big deal out of it.

She was even more taken aback to discover that each of her gifts was a different circus animal. Since none of the presents she had given her MIL’s friends were on the list, OP was perplexed and even checked the registry again to see if she had made a mistake.

Her husband was perplexed also and inquired, “What’s up with all the circus animals?” when he arrived. After seeing the gifts, he said, “This isn’t what we asked for.” Without delay, he inquired about his mother’s actions.

The MIL expressed her disapproval of the motif his wife selected. “I’m going to decorate my baby’s nursery at my house with circus animals, so I created a registry for myself,” she said. The husband was speechless, but his mother persisted and reiterated:

“My baby is going to need a room at my house, so I threw a shower for myself.”

The husband and his wife were incensed by her remarks. The elder woman broke down in tears and informed the couple that they were keeping her away from her child when OP made it obvious that her MIL would never see her child.

The rest of the family began texting the Reddit user and her spouse, accusing them of being egotistical and causing the MIL’s experience of becoming a grandma to be ruined. People who left comments, on the other hand, felt that the OP was correct to take the appropriate safety measures against her MIL. Many readers were concerned about the MIL’s actions, and some were relieved that the OP’s husband supported her.