I wrote before, I was the one with the mother-in-law from heaven but the not-so-hot-FIL and the stepmom from hell.  Here's a little story about him I have to share, which is just typical of how he treats people, including his own sons.  My hubby is a very, very thoughtful man, and this shows in his gift giving.  He goes out of his way to actually select something that he knows will mean a lot to the person, or put a smile on their face.  It's not necessarily the amount of money (though he is generous with that too) but he spends lots of time selecting and hunting down gifts, sometimes going to great time and trouble, because he's a caring guy.  Well, a few years back there was a blizzard here, to the point of the buses not running, and of course cars were out of the question.  If you wanted to get somewhere, you walked or stayed put.  Even though his dad moved out when he was like 3, and spending time with his dad is not exactly a picnic, he makes sure to remember him on holidays, and stays in touch with him because, as he puts it, "your Dad is your Dad".  This one year he bought him a very expensive book from a book dealer that he spent days tracking down because it was a subject he knows my FIL is especially interested in.  He also recorded a song just for him, and put it on tape.  He then tromped for hours through practically a gale force blizzard to deliver the gifts to him at dinner (the presents were heavy, too).  He gets there and they announce, "sorry", they already ate - early, in fact - and didn't bother to save him any leftovers.  But the worst part was when they exchanged gifts.  He gives his dad his nice gifts and his dad liked them but didn't exactly kill himself displaying gratitude.  Then his dad hands him his gift as an afterthought almost.  I should mention that my husband also puts great care into wrapping, he could probably wrap gifts for a living he does such a beautiful, exacting job.  Wrapping one gift can take him 30 minutes.  His dad hands him his gift in a paper bag.

When my husband and I were first married my MIL kept asking me if I "tried that new diet drink?"  One day I looked her square in the eye and said, "No, have you ?"  She never asked me again.

My sister-in-law had a birthday party for her daughter.  One of the guests remarked that my daughter looked exactly like me.  My MIL stood up and in a very agitated voice said, "Oh No.  Oh no she doesn't.  My son isn't here because he had to work.  But if you saw him, you would know she looks like her father."  That was ten years ago, and now my daughter and I can't go anywhere without people telling us we look exactly alike.  Thank you God !

My story is:  for 17 years my mother in law has done nothing but hurt me.  It started when we were dating and at the wedding.  And now, 17 yrs later, she still hurts me, and my husband does nothing to stop her.

I have Caller ID and I am NEVER getting rid of it.  My MIL calls for the dumbest reasons, often at 10:00 -- 10:30 at night.  Get caller ID -- I'm telling you, the absolute best feeling in the world is knowing that the Giant Battle Axe is on the other end, and you get to stand there while you're busy NOT answering it, just smiling away!

Does anyone else have a MIL that has to, one way or another, call your child something different from what their name is?  For example, my son is named Jacob and my MIL insists on calling him Jake-e or J or Jake.  Never calling him JACOB!  It is so irritating, even though we have told her we don't like those names.  Her response was that we picked a difficult name for him and she couldn't pronounce it.  I was so stunned when she said something that made her sound so stupid, I couldn't say anything.  So, my husband told her to only call him Jacob.  Now she will say, "Jake-e, Oh I mean Jacob."  Every time she calls him.  And, believe it or not, she can pronounce it just fine!

Hi Everyone!  Hope you all are having a great week and surviving your inlaws.  Well, have I got one for you.  I am going on my first ever vacation.  I am going out of town for two days with a girlfriend of mine with no children and no husband.  My husband has graciously made this possible for me.  Well, here is the good part, my mil came over last weekend, and my husband tells her about my upcoming trip, and she just snickers about it.  She proceeds to tell me that I don't need a vacation since I don't work.  I guess being a full time mom to three kids is not working.  This woman is always too busy to even be with her grandchildren because she is forever going out of town.  And it's okay for her son to travel 2,000 miles to see his dad for a week, a couple of times a year, but I don't need a vacation.  Then she informs me that she will take my children that weekend.  I advise her that won't be necessary since my husband is taking a few days off, so he can take care of them.  She informs me that he shouldn't be stuck at home with them.  I told her it was time for him to play full-time parent, since I'm the one that always stays home with them, and he goes out of town at least twice a year to visit his dad and doesn't take the kids with him.  She insists that she will be taking care of them.  Well, after she left I gave my husband a death threat that she better not be taking my children, I will come back home and kill him and her both.  So, either he will heed my advice or you all will be reading my story in the news headlines, mother of three kills mother-in-law and husband after much needed vacation interrupted.  Ha ha ... thanks for letting me vent ...

My mother-in-law started my husband drinking beer when he was 12 years old.  Told him he was a man now.  Well, needless to say, we have never really had a lot to do with her, but when our son was 15 he went with his father to a family reunion on his mother's side of the family.  She offered my son some rum and coke and became angry when he wouldn't drink it.  My husband avoided her for so long, but now has finally learned to stand up to her and tell her to stop.  I guess he found out he could live without her.  I hadn't talked to her in 14 years, because every time we went around her she would get drunk, and start in on how I thought I was better than everybody else, cursing and what not.  I always kept my thoughts to myself . . . "No, just better than you!" haha

You won't believe it.
My mother in law had a facelift job.  Now she regrets her decision.  She now is afraid to show herself to people, and pretends she is not at home when the doorbell rings.  She now lives at the rear side of her house together with my father in law.  Can you imagine?  They live on the first floor of an ordinary house in a former bedroom.  They moved the bed and set in a table and three chairs.  It now looks as if a dentist has moved in.  I swear, the room looks the very same as a dentist's office.  I'm laughing my head off.  Don't you?  What a joke!  The funny thing is ... it's a true story!!

I totally empathize with any woman that marries an only son.  To top it off, my husband is also the only child.  This makes my MIL think she can be in our business 24/7.  I'm always the bad guy, regardless of the situation.  Just a few "lowlights"

- My husband and I were arguing, and it got pretty intense.  Before our kids had to witness this mess, I had a friend take them out with her.  Then my MIL shows up.  When I was going outside to cool off, she grabbed me and told me to sit down so we could listen to what she had to say.  I asked for her to let go, and even told my husband to make her let go, but she wouldn't.  So ... I popped her.  We hit each other until I knocked her glasses off and she finally let go. (By the way, it was pretty evident who won the fight)  She then started yelling, for the whole neighborhood to hear, that I was nothing but a cheap little whore, an un-fit mother, and that she would see to it that I never saw my children again.  She also called down my mom and friend.  She then told me she was calling the police, which she never did because I threw her out of my house.

- My daughter's 5th birthday was held at a popular fast food hamburger spot.  My MIL showed up late, and without my FIL.  She announced to everyone that her invitation said 2:30, thus making it my fault that she was late.  She was obviously upset that my FIL didn't attend with her, so she tried to focus on the fact that my mother was not there.  Since my parents are divorced, I sometimes hold another small party with my mom to make everyone more comfortable.  But, she tried to get me to say that my mom thought it wasn't worth her time to attend the party.  Thank goodness my husband intervened and let everyone know that my mom and daughter had already celebrated her birthday the previous weekend.  Anyway, I had taken some icing off the cake to mess around with my nephew.  As she took over serving the cake she had to tell everyone that I was just juvenile and messed up a perfectly good piece of cake.  She then yells at me that I HAVE to eat the cake too, not just the frosting.  The final straw was when an aunt mentioned that my daughter's socks had gotten dirty from the floor.  My MIL says in a very loud voice that my kids socks are always filthy from being at home.

- Since our big fight, my husband has to deal with my IL's.  He'll ask them to baby-sit ... then, I'm to blame when he doesn't pick them up promptly.  Mind you, I'm the one working everyday.  Anyway, she'll announce that she is basically raising my kids, because I'm just too busy with my life to care about them.  But, when they are with her, she'll actually fall asleep and let them have run of the house.

- When my grandfather passed away, she was very upset that I didn't send my son to school.  This was the first death he had to deal with, and he wasn't up to school, but she brought home assignments for him anyway.  She actually went to his teacher and told her that he needed to do homework.

- When I was pregnant with our son, she would call daily.  One day we left the house at 7:30 am and didn't return until 10:00 pm.  There were 17 messages on our machine.  In the last one, she is just short of screaming, figuring we were at the hospital having the baby and hadn't called.

These are just some of the stories and I could go on for days telling you others.

My 1st MIL was more like a sister to me than an MIL.  She has been missing now for almost 7 years.  Presumed dead.  I miss her.  My 2nd MIL is definitely different.  On her first visit to stay with us, a few years after we were married, she rearranged my kitchen cabinets (including dishes, utensils etc) to suit her while I was at work.  She pouts when she does not get her way. 

I have an unusual case:

Both my IL's are racist against my religion.  Needless to say, living with them (both my husband and I are full time students and can't afford to rent our own apartment) has been hell.  Before my MIL even met me she was telling my husband racist things about me.  From the time I heard that, I knew being related to her was going to be tough.  I won't go into detail about this b*tch's bickering and complaints.  They are too pathetic to even comment about.  But I will tell you one thing: not only will she not keep her racist thoughts private, she will even tell them to me to my face, or even in public.  The worst is that she doesn't think this is insulting me. She thinks she is amusing her company.  Furthermore, when her spoiled son once told me that I was a "typical" person of my religion, she told him "not to get personal."

But he's another story: this spoiled son of hers is my age, failing every subject in college, and does not have a job.  But does she say anything bad about him?  No, I'm the lazy person.  Me.  Who is a full time college student, 4.0 GPA, 100% attendance, and I work MORE THAN OVER TIME.

I just thought I'd send all you MIL cursed a little story to comfort you next time your mother-in-law says/does something to hurt you.  Think of me and take my example: ignore the b*tch. You will outlive her.

Some things my lunatic ex-MIL has done:

When my water broke 2 weeks before our first child was due, I didn't panic.  My husband was due home from work in about 15 minutes, so I called him to let him know he shouldn't dawdle talking with his friends, and spent the time making sure everything was in my bag.  The mama's boy calls his mother in a panic, and she in turn calls me and orders me to go to the hospital right this minute.  I refused, as I'd had no pains and had plenty of time to get to the hospital.  She calls me back again and again until I take the phone off the hook.  So then she calls & wakes my father up across town along with my neighbor & everybody but the national guard.  Husband gets home and we go to the hospital.  Since I'm not in labour yet, my doctor decides to induce, and instantly the pains are horrendous.  MIL has showed up by then and forced her way into my room, and is there when the anesthesiologist comes in.  I requested something for pain and MIL asks him, "Won't that slow her labour down?" to which he answered positively.  She turns angrily to me and tells me, "I'm not going to wait here all day for you to have that baby."  I tell her Good, no one had asked her to be there anyway, and she finally leaves angrily.

Oddly enough, when I went into labour with our second child we were at her house, and she lolly-gagged about until my pains were 3 minutes apart before she'd take me to the hospital.  She lived 45 mi. from the nearest one!

When we brought home our first child from the hospital, she demanded to be there.  Not only that, but she brought no less than 5 family members with her, including my single brother-in-law.  While there, it's time for me to breastfeed the baby, so I excuse myself to go into the bedroom, and she grabs my arm and tells me that I was being rude to ignore all my guests!  So I decide to discreetly nurse the baby while the 'party' is going on all around me.  MIL has other ideas, apparently, because she tells me that I'm "suffocating the baby" and yanks my shirt open exposing me to everyone there, then sits with me to make sure that I don't do it again.

Of course, she didn't like what we'd brought to bring the baby home in, said it looked like a clown suit (my own white christening dress with battenburg lace?) and buys the cheapest looking thing imaginable for a 15 minute trip.

MIL took my daughter for a well-baby checkup once and tried to convince our pediatrician that the baby would be tongue-tied and needed her tongue clipped (to say he was horrified is an understatement).

Another time, she invited herself to go with me to a doctor's appointment.  When it came time for the exam she steadfastly stayed put, even after I politely and subtly asked her if she'd be more comfortable in the waiting room.  I finally had to tell her, point-blank, to leave, and then she pouted for weeks.

She once told me that she'd sneaked a peek at our laundry and that my underwear was disgustingly filthy, that she'd never "messed up" her underwear that way.  Huh?  ICK!!!!!

Once, while making soft scrambled eggs for my toddler, MIL tells me that the eggs are too dry and I'll choke the baby (3 yrs. old) with them, then proceeds to throw the entire contents of the skillet out and make more of the same.

And last, but not least, her son is actually her grandson, that she forcibly took custody of from her own daughter.  However, she will tell anyone who will listen about the horrible morning sickness and grueling labour she endured while having him.  Tell me this broad isn't a lunatic!

Before I begin, I'd like to say that my current MIL (for 8 years now) is a grand lady and a real sweetheart.  She treats me as a true friend and the feelings are reciprocated.

My former MIL, however, is a totally different story.  Some of the "lowlights" of that ongoing relationship (due to children) are:

Watching her son beat me once while I was pregnant with our daughter, lying about it to the police, and then telling me that I was crazy and made up stories just to get her son into trouble.

Making our children call her "mama" and saying that I was crazy for thinking it was inappropriate.  She also said that all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren called her mama.  This was not true either.

Having her son drag me forcefully from the hospital after I was admitted due to bleeding ulcers.

Calling child protection on me every time she was ticked off because I wouldn't let her have the children for a holiday.  Their father didn't want anything to do with them and still doesn't.

Telling my teenage children that I tried to abort them, and had it not been for her stopping the procedure they wouldn't be here.  Even if this were true, what kind of sick individual would tell this to a person, much less a child?

Note:   This story is repeated from 2/5/00 due to recent receipt of a response.

My Mother In law is always in my business.  She is driving me nuts.  She has put me through pure hell and back again.  She thinks she knows everything, and she thinks she is better than everybody else.  My husband and I have a lot of things going on in our marriage.  We can't work anything out because she will send me some stupid mean e-mail and make me mad again.  My husband has told her to leave me alone, but she doesn't listen.  I had a child very recently and things have gotten worse.  She is accusing me of cheating and not taking care of my baby.  I have cheated on my husband in the past, and he has on me, and she throws that up at me at every chance she gets.  The thing is, it was okay when he did it.  My husband was spending his unemployment checks "elsewhere" instead of paying bills.  Now, somehow, she is blaming me for that, and saying that I am a liar.  Even after he told her he was doing it.  How do you get rid of this woman?  How do you make them stay out of your life?  She is driving me crazy.


***NOTE:  Please feel free to respond to this (using our mother-in-law stories submission page) if you have any advice to share.  Reference this story as "Want MIL Out Of My Life" in your response. 

RESPONSE:  RE: Want MIL Out Of My Life
One way to make your life at least slightly more peaceful is to filter your incoming e-mail.  If you're using Outlook Express, select one of her messages and then click on Message > Create Rule From Message, and tell Outlook to simply delete any messages from her.  No muss, no fuss.  This obviously won't solve all of your problems, but it can at least keep you from going bonkers over her latest e-mail.

Hi.  I have been married for almost 13 years now.  I should have known that I was in trouble the first time I met my "Mommy In Law".  Just before we were leaving his mommie's house, she walks up to me and says, "Be good to my son".  Well, needless to say, I have been good to her son.  We have been through some really tough times over the years.  We hang in there and tough them out.  He used to go to his parents and work on his dad's things (cars, motorcycle, tractor) you name it, he worked on it.  He doesn't any more for one good reason.  He found out just what a real witch Mommy really is while working on something of Dads.  Mommy would take care of the children.  I was at work at the time.  Well, after a couple of days of this, Mommy told my husband that she was tired and couldn't take care of them anymore.  Pretty good, he thought.  Here he is giving up his days off to come to their home and work for free on his dad's things.  Now she tells him that she is tired of her grandchildren.  I could go on forever.  This is just a small sample of the kind of crap we have put up with over the years. I wish she would look back to that time every time she calls and wants us to come over so she can see the children.  Over the last 3 years I think we have been over to see them about 12 times.  If they want to see the kids they will have to come over to my place.  I will not go out of my way for her.  Every time we do get together, she makes some hurtful remark to me or my husband.  We just let it pass and go on with the visit.  We don't want the kids to see the hurt she has given.  Well that's all for now.  Good Luck out there all.

RE: URL http://www.successunlimited.co.uk/serial.htm
This website, describing the serial bully, also vividly describes the years of abuse my ex-MIL has heaped upon me for more than 20 years.  Although I divorced her son 18 years ago, she is still an unwanted part of my life due to my children.  Over the years she has kidnapped my children on multiple occasions, taken me to court to try to gain custody of them, taken me to court to force me to allow her to see them when her own son wouldn't even visit them, called child protection on me repeatedly, etc. ad nauseum.

My oldest child will be 21 in June, and I see her grandmother doing the same things to her as she did to me, and I am powerless to help her as she believes that I'm being unjustifiably cruel to her grandmother by refusing to see or speak to her.

I have a new story to submit about my MIL.  I have never hated another human like I do her.  Her husband has always stopped at the store after work to get her cigarettes - usually enough to last for a couple of days.  Well, with her con-artist mind, she has figured out a way to get free cigarettes.  She now calls my husband in the middle of the day and asks him to pick her up a couple of packs of cigarettes.  Cigarettes cost almost $4.00 here in our area.  She is a 20-mile round-trip drive for us, and gasoline costs almost $2.00 per gallon.  So, each day we are spending about $10.00 on her.  Ten dollars isn't a lot, but we are a newlywed couple and just starting our own business.  Times are tough, and sometimes we don't even know how we are going to pay the rent.  And, of course, she never offers to pay for the cigarettes or gas, and her little momma's boy never asks.  She still owes us over a thousand dollars for a car my husband bought her last year.  At first he told me she was going to pay it off in three payments, one every two weeks.  Now, she says that she'll pay us when she gets her taxes back.  If I know this greedy MIL, she was probably one of the first people in America to get her income taxes back.  My husband put our company in jeopardy by buying her this vehicle, because he took it out of company funds and we started bouncing checks.  Can you believe someone this manipulative who even manages to get cigarettes free?

I have an intolerable father-in-law.  My in-laws live next door to me and I can hardly bear it!!!  My husband and I lived with them for 10 months before we got married, and moved out on our 2 month wedding anniversary.  If anyone has a problem with their father-in-law, please let me know, since there is no father-in-law site that I can find.  I need someone to vent to, so please if this sounds like you, let me know.