Comedy and Chaos: The Wild World of Monster Mothers-In-Law

It’s All About Her

“I had a call from a woman whose son was getting married, and upon discussing a meeting to sign the contract I asked her whether she will come with the couple.

‘Oh, not exactly. It will be just me.’

‘I‘d love to hear what the couple wants.‘

‘They don’t want anything. My son will do as I please.’

‘And what about the bride?‘

‘She will do what my son tells her to do, and he will do as I please.’

I chose to decline and suggested they looked for another photographer. I was still quite new to the field, and this attitude promised trouble.”

—savageexplosive on Reddit

“It’s Better This Way”

“My now ex and I had been saving up to take a long road trip together. About a week before we were set to leave, he tells me that his mom spent hours crying to him about how much debt she has and that she may have to add a second mortgage to the house, sell precious family heirlooms, etc.

So, being a good son, he decided to give her most of his road trip money. I was understanding and we agreed to put the trip on hold so he could save more. A few days later, I visited his mom and she showed me this huge elaborate ceramic water fountain she had bought the day before for her garden.

It was ridiculous. I muttered something like, “Must have been expensive.” She patted me on the shoulder and said, “Road trips are dangerous. It’s better this way.”

—hazelk on Reddit

She Offered How Much Money?!

“My mother-in-law is obsessed with having grandkids and is in complete denial that my husband and I aren’t planning on having any. Last time she visited, she stole one of my birth control pills, I guess thinking that I wouldn’t notice. And he’s not even her only kid! He’s just the only boy so his sister’s kids wouldn’t matter. She recently said she’d pay me $30,000 to have a kid. I say raise it to $100,000 and get back to me.”

—Bisexualdw on Reddit

Stop Letting Her Come Over!

An Awful End To Their Vacation

“My husband and I went on holiday. We left his parents our key so they could feed the fish and water plants. We got back after a long flight and drive home at two in the morning. When we opened the front door, my jaw dropped. Our living room had been totally rearranged, Then I walked through to the kitchen/dining room. There was a new, hideous dining room table. Then I went to our bedroom. It too had been rearranged! I was livid.

So here we were, at 2:00 a.m., rearranging our whole house back to normal. That was not the worst part. I cannot stress enough when I say that we went on to find that EVERY SINGLE shelf, cupboard, and drawer in the house had been gone through and reorganized. It took days for me to put everything back.”

—MrsMarik on Reddit

She Doesn’t Even Bother To Ask First

“My in-laws invited us to go on vacation to visit my husband’s extended family on the other side of the country. We politely declined, telling them that we were planning to visit some really good friends for our vacation that year.

My mother-in-law asked if we’d made firm travel plans yet, and we said no and that we were waiting for our tax return to buy the plane tickets. Her response was, “Then there’s no reason you can’t go with us because we bought your tickets to fly out with us!”

She legitimately thought it would be okay for us to change our vacation plans just because they’d purchased our tickets without asking us first.”

—ServantofShemhazai on Reddit

An Unforgettable Holiday Battle

“My ex-mother-in-law really wanted her holiday traditions to take root in our home. Even though I was Jewish, she gifted me with a steady stream of craptastic Santa statuettes, tree ornaments, and Rudolph tea towels. When I asked why, she told me that it was ‘the woman’s job to make the home,’ adding that I shouldn’t mind the Christmas themes because ‘Santa wasn’t religious’ and ‘Besides, you’re not, like, a serious Jew.'”

—debbiedeborah on Reddit

The Silent Treatment Is The Worst

“One year, for reasons I’ve yet to ascertain, my mother-in-law ignored me entirely. Their family does a fundraiser I participate in every year, and my husband’s Mom invited the woman he was seeing before me.

This is at least 4years after we began dating—and when we did begin, the other woman relentlessly tried to contact/reconnect with my boyfriend. My mother-in-law hung out with her the whole day while ignoring me.

Then, she straight-up acted like I didn’t exist for Christmas that same year. Never got an apology or explanation why, other than when she was arguing with my boyfriend once and said some sh*t about not liking how I let him treat her. He made sure to make it clear that’s not how our relationship works and that she has to give respect to get it.”

—That_One_Girl- on Reddit

“We were newlyweds and in town visiting, we got married with some cheapo temporary rings because my husband got me a really beautiful and custom-made ring that was my dream and took some time to make. I had no idea when it was actually coming in the mail, he wanted to surprise me with it and couldn’t wait any longer. So he had it shipped to his parents’ house.

Well, I received the ring alright. An opened box, and my [mother-in-law] handing it to me instead of my husband… My husband was FURIOUS but stayed quiet. I just wanted to cry. And I solemnly received the box and said it was okay because I wasn’t even expecting the ring and took me a minute to process what actually happened.”

—Connie on Reddit

She Wants To Be The Rich Grandma

“Oh man, I’ve got a doozy for you. My mother-in-law asked my wife how much my mother makes. This not being a usual topic of conversation in my family was not known to my wife, so she made up an arbitrary number of 100K and told this to my MIL.

Well, about a month later, my MIL came back to my wife and said, “There is no way that your MIL can make that much money”. Apparently, she called my mother’s place of employment and asked if anyone made more than 100K.

She claims that she was told by my mom’s work that no one makes that much money and it is supposedly impossible for her to make that much. My mother works at a university as an experienced web developer, so of course, there are people there that make more than 100K, and there is no way someone relayed this information.

After this conversation was about over, she finished by saying that she was glad that my mother didn’t make that much because she claimed she “wanted to be the rich grandma” and it was her job to spoil the kids. That gets kind of hard when she has no money and doesn’t even work! This woman be crazy.”

—skimice1 on Reddit

Is She His Mother Or His Wife?

“As [Covid] restrictions began to ease, his mother started calling over a lot, and it was from then I started to realize that she was not ready to see another woman take her place. She would make my husband dinner (at our house!), take his laundry home, and bring it back washed. Heck, one evening I even came back from work to see her sitting on the couch feet up with her dog on the seat next to her (she knows I’m allergic!)”

—Stellar on Reddit

“My mother-in-law was raised as a debutant. She fully believes that women are all interested in fashion, jewelry, kids, cooking, being stay-at-home mothers, and having her husband’s food ready when he comes home from work.

Women shouldn’t have any interest in what men do for fun. Last summer while at her place my husband and his brothers were playing some PS2 and I was patiently waiting my turn. All of a sudden she came out to get me so that we could read old Country Woman magazines and girl-talk while the boys played their silly games.

Also, when we moved into our apartment she put all the non-perishable food on the bookshelf in the living room instead of in the kitchen…”

—goldy_locks on Reddit

Your Wife Isn’t Your Maid!

“Just after our marriage, when my husband was going for a bath, he asked for detergent to wash his clothes as he usually does. But my mother-in-law said, ‘You don’t need to wash your clothes anymore. Your wife is there; she will do it.’ I confronted her saying I will not until there is an emergency or he is not well enough to do so. SHE CREATED BIG DRAMA.”

—ShinniJain on Reddit

Never Gift An Unexpected Pet

“One weekend my daughter stayed at my MIL’s for an overnight visit. She bought my daughter a rabbit without our permission or even telling us. We show up to pick up our kiddo and there is a giant rabbit cage with a dwarf bunny.

She bought the bedding and food. So we couldn’t turn it away because we didn’t have supplies. We already have 2 dogs and very little room for a rabbit cage.

But, my kid was ecstatic.

My husband is allergic.

My MIL knows this.

She’s an a**hole.”

—Sparkle_Motion on Reddit

How Much Do You Value Each Other?

“My first husband (back when he was my boyfriend) and I were given contracts by his mother spelling out the financial benefits of us breaking up. If we would agree to break up and sign the contracts, he would get his college paid for and a new car and I would get $10,000. Even after we both refused, she actually came to the house we were sharing and explained that I was an unacceptable girlfriend for her son and offered me additional money and a new contract for $20,000. Yeah. She was my mother-in-law for nine years after that.”

—nevertruly on Reddit

What Kind Of Mother Would Do This?

“My husband and sister-in-law have been overweight/obese since they were kids. His mother has been a size 6 her entire adult life. MIL has always used food to replace affection and shame them. There have been times we visited, when she immediately lectured my husband about his weight in regard to their family history of diabetes, then proceeded to push fried food and sweets on him the rest of the visit.

Last year, tired of struggling to lose weight, my husband decided to get bariatric surgery. MIL made this big show of how she was going to visit and “take care of him” after the surgery. Cool.

That Friday, when she’s supposed to visit, she tells him she’s in the ER with strep throat and sends a pic of a hospital admission bracelet with no date on it. He calls but she doesn’t answer. That Sunday, she sends him a pic of her painting her house.

She starts texting my husband pics of weight loss surgery patients with loose skin, saying that’s what he’ll look like. My husband is losing weight and posting sweaty progress selfies from the gym on Instagram. She texts him, “Do me a favor and stop posting those ugly pictures of yourself.”

I never felt strongly either way about MIL before these events, but I emphatically dislike her now. I believe she was triggered by my husband’s choice to improve his life through bariatric surgery because he was taking away a means for which she was able to control him and make him feel terrible about himself.”

—ShootHerCleverGirl on Reddit

Zero Respect For Personal Space

“Found out we were expecting a month after I had arrived back in the US. She asks husband if he was sure it was his baby. Also comments ‘Wow, you guys got busy fast, didn’t you!” During pregnancy, she would rub/talk to my belly (after finding similar posts about this, it bothers me so much that I didn’t blatantly tell her not to touch me) even when I wasn’t showing. I would walk away, move seats, put my arms crossed over my stomach. Every kind of hint to get her to stop. Nothing worked. Every visit, it was ‘hello sweet baby!’ and hold her hands on me until he would kick (which he never did with her, haha).”

—Anonymous on Reddit

What An Awful Sense Of Entitlement

“This is more of an ongoing living nightmare than a story.

My mother-in-law moved in with us to downsize, selling her condo nearby because it made good financial sense, which translates to her blowing her nest egg on the Home Shopping Network and cruises a few times a year, which means she’s never leaving.

She re-arranges all the dishes in the cupboard and dishwasher, moves all the food in the cabinets and pantry, and answers the house phone and refuses to pass it off to me or my wife without talking to whoever calls for 5 minutes first.

She downloads viruses on the family computer, burns food all the time when she cooks in the kitchen, stinking up the house and constantly setting off the smoke alarm, clips her toenails on the Lazy Boy in the living room, and parks her car in the driveway blocking the garage.

She won’t leave her car in there that she never drives because she says it’s too narrow, so I never get to use my garage or driveway to park my car when I get home. I have to park it down the street because there’s never any parking available outside my house.

It goes on, and on, and on…”

—TotallyMadeUpStory on Reddit

She Congratulated Them With Goat Noises

“Not a real horror story, but when we called my wife’s parents to tell them we were engaged, she made a monotone sound like ‘aaaaeeaaaah aaaaeeaaahh aaaaeaaahh aaaaaeehhh’ — sounded like a goat. No congratulations or anything.

We had been together for nine years and they had pushed us to get married — this was no surprise to anyone. But despite my wife’s attempts to convince me otherwise, I was aware of some long-standing reservations she had about me and her daughter.

But you’ll be glad to know that, having not seen her in person between then and the wedding, when she arrived in town for the wedding, I was glad to greet her by saying, ‘aaaaeeaaaah aaaaeeaaahh aaaaeaaahh!'”

—HungryLikeTheWolf99 on Reddit

No Happy Marriages Allowed

“My MIL was divorced and remarried another man. Said man had horrible credit and brought down her score as well. Due to this, they got a divorce but stayed together.

She tried to convince my now-husband and me to do so too because “There’s no real point in being married.” And not just once—she said this every time we saw her. ANY time we have good news, she finds a way to turn it into a lecture.

We told her we were pregnant, and she lectured my husband for close to two hours that he has to look into a better job, and this means more responsibility. When we did a gender reveal, for her first grandchild I might add, she just kind of shrugged it off.

Her first words when seeing our son was, “Well, there’s no denying he’s (hubby’s).” I walked up on her at a family holiday get-together, and she was telling my husband’s cousin about how my father was an alcoholic and that is why my parents divorced.”

—k0t00rf on Reddit

That’s The Whole Point!

“DH and I have been playing with an idea of taking a vacation near our wedding anniversary instead of the usual staying in and making dinner. I wanted to go to NYC and take him to a few of my favorite places since he had never been to NY. I mentioned that we were planning a trip to NYC for our anniversary and she said, ‘Well, we can’t go! We already planned a trip that weekend with our friends!” I awkwardly just look at her and laugh. That’s the point, MIL. Why would you and FIL come on a wedding anniversary trip?”

—SalmonRo on Reddit

The Baby Needs To Eat Too!

“I’ve posted in her before about my JNMIL and our situation. I currently live with my MIL with my husband and three month old. I exclusively pump for my daughter and I’m very lucky to be able to pump about 40 ounces a day for her. And since I am pumping so much I am able to also freeze some. I do my best to organize this in our fridge and freezer and I believe that I have a nice little set up.

My husband just now came to me and said that his mother is complaining that she doesn’t have room in the fridge because of my breastmilk. He said he was just speechless and said “I don’t know what to tell you. The baby needs to eat.”

How do i even approach this? I can’t just stop pumping for her because my MIL is inconvenienced. I already cut down my pumps to 4-5 times a day.

Please someone just b*tch with me or offer advice. I am just beside myself.”

—cryptid66 on Reddit

Ouch! That’s Harsh

“Shortly after my engagement, I had to send my ring in to be resized because it was a little too big. My [mother-in-law] asked me where my ring was, and I said it was being resized because it was half a size too big. She said, ‘Why make it smaller! You’ll get fatter anyways, and it’ll fit fine!'”

—penguin444 on Reddit

“I had first seen my mother in law when i video called for the first time. I remember she looked at me with a shocked and disgusted face and showing the phone screen to her daughters and pointing toawrds it with a disappointment face. but I brushed it off thinking I was just overthinking it.

After we got married, my husband told me that when his mother first saw me on video call she told him “what is this??” And that I’m not beautiful. They took a screenshot of the call to send to my husband when my face was paused at a moment which made my face look awkward (my eyes were half closed and my mouth was opened)

It’s past now but it still hurts me that they said that and sent that screenshot to my husband. How can I get over it and not make it hurt me anymore?”

—apple-white-red on Reddit

A How-To Guide On Being Rude And Selfish

“My [mother-in-law] wrote her son a letter a week before we got married telling him to think very carefully about what he was doing, as he needed to be sure he was marrying someone he loved and trusted (we had been together for six very happy years at this point! ) She later walked out of our wedding in tears, drove home (seven hours away!) without saying anything to anyone, and then followed that up by emailing me saying she didn’t know what (her son) saw in me.”

—DD211205 on Reddit

The Entitlement Is Unreal

“My husband and I have spent the last few days discussing getting a cat and have been approved at a rescue. He told his sister about this and his sister told their mother. My husband’s mother and brother are allergic, but really only come to our home maybe twice a year.

. She is flipping out on him that “he doesn’t care about them anymore” and that “he’s changed since getting engaged” and basically constantly insinuates that I’m a controlling b**** whenever he does something she doesn’t agree with.

When the opposite is true. We both agree that them being allergic shouldn’t really influence our decision much as it is our home and they visit infrequently. Any advice on how to handle this situation?”

—LumpyAccountant6479 on Reddit

Heather? Rachel? No, My Name Is Amber!

“My ex [mother-in-law] was the WORST! She would call me Heather or Rachel. My name is Amber. I was with her son for 6 years. She bought me a muumuu once for Christmas. Little did anyone know I was pregnant and rocked that thing ALL the time.

She called my son a mistake.

When I met her, she called me ‘exotic’ (I have dark brown hair, light blue eyes, and olive skin). Apparently, that meant I looked like a stripper.”

—TX_ambrosia on Reddit

The Holy Spirit Hates Your Dress

“Not me but a friend… She went wedding dress shopping with her mom, her younger sister, and a couple close friends. She found a dress that she absolutely loved, and her friends and sister all agreed that she looked wonderful in it. Her mom, however, was upset with the dress’ hemline. It wasn’t short or unorthodox or anything, it just didn’t ‘fall right.’ Long story short, she flipped out and kept insisting that ‘the Holy Spirit is telling me that dress isn’t right for you!!!!’ My friend and her sister are very religious, but even that was too much for them.”

—annielovesbacon on Reddit

Just Wife Number 2

“I’m engaged, and my future husband has been married before which is making my soon-to-be [mother-in-law] super nervy. Anytime we’re over at her house and openly chatting about our wedding plans, she interjects and tries to change my mind on certain ideas because he ‘did that before and it didn’t work out.’ From the wedding size to cake fillings, florist to our honeymoon – she suggests he doesn’t pick a beach destination – again! She is totally ruining my excitement and making me feel like I’m ‘wife number two’ rather than the woman of his dreams, which I deserve to be!”

—Anonymous on Reddit

She Paid Him $4k To Stop The Wedding

“I had problems with bridesmaids fighting with each other at the bar for my bachelorette, a gazillion issues with my mother. Seriously screaming at me on the phone for so much stuff. But the kicker was the night before the wedding. Rehearsal get-together at my parents’ house. My [mother-in-law] pulled me aside and told me she hoped it would pour rain the next day (outdoor wedding), that I have to learn my manners and put my husband before myself (which I always do, seriously, people think it’s abusive). She pulled my husband into a guest room, gave him an envelope full of cash, and told him not to tell me. Which he did immediately afterwards. There was $4k [in] that envelope.

The only person who made my wedding tolerable was my father. Who, during the issues with bridesmaids told me he’d be my maid of honor and the night before told my husband if he wanted he’d put a ladder to the room window I was staying at so we could run off and elope.”

—ALighterShadeOfPale on Reddit

Not A Fun Surprise

“First wedding. We said we just wanted something small… no groomsmen, no bridesmaids, no flower girls, no ring bearers, etc… just family to watch us take vows. My mother-in-law went behind our backs and secretly invited a very large number of people including old school friends of mine that she didn’t even know. This was before social media, so tracking them down took actual effort. I walked into something I thought would be deeply personal and intimate and immediately realized that we were now going to be the center of attention for a crowd. We hadn’t intended on having that type of wedding, so we didn’t even have a traditional reception planned, which made us look like terrible hosts.”

—HoneyPiSquared on Reddit

Laundry Day Drama

“It’s a petty thing, but it drives me crazy still.

Any time she visits, she insists on doing the laundry. Laundry is personal to me, even if it’s dirty socks, jeans, or sweats. Let alone my underwear or husband’s boxers. But when I had to do laundry when she was here, I would give her a basket of black/blue/white socks for her to match up. Wow. it was like giving a kid a tub of Legos. She loved it. But she got no more of our clothes. I just could not handle her touching my personal items.”

—magicalunbeefs on Reddit