“She has always been jealous of our relationship from the beginning. I’ve taken her precious boy away from her.”

I'm a New York City-based Staff Writer who enjoys covering lifestyle, relationships, and women's content.

"A few weeks later, some family friends were in town, and I was joking with the other new mom about postpartum hormones. My MIL interrupted, announcing to the group that she knew my hormones were all over the place based on the inspection of our tank! She then said what she had done, like some kind of gotcha. Mortified and angry, I went to the kitchen to do the dishes. She followed me in and added that I should use a different type of toilet paper, as it wasn't decomposing as well as it should, and that I should never flush feminine products."

"My husband spoke to her and tried to talk her down, and she said, 'Seriously? You don't think it's a little strange that the mother of the groom is nowhere to be seen in these photos?' I have to reiterate here that this is not our full gallery. Additionally, our photographer sent us our sneak peeks, roughly 100 images, and we sent all the ones with MIL to her (there were plenty). What she's mad about is a tiny handful of photos being posted to a BUSINESS Instagram page. The delusion of this woman. I am so thankful to be low contact."

"We eventually went to the car for AC because the baby was too hot/overstimulated and told them we were stepping away. About 40 minutes later, the reveal happened without us. We were the gender keepers, but they did it without us before we could even get back. I was just trying to keep my newborn safe and settled, but instead felt judged and then excluded.

The next day, my husband went back to her house to pick up our things and acted as if nothing had happened. When I brought it up, he said he'd 'talk to her another time,' which honestly made me feel even more unsupported."

"FIL didn't even congratulate us. He avoided looking at me. Husband didn't say anything. Everyone else in our lives was so excited; this broke my heart. It seems every milestone we hit, from getting a dog to getting engaged to having a kid, just makes us feel so bad."

"Anyway, we went to dinner at their house a few days ago to talk about business (husband and FIL own a business together). Before we went over, my MIL texted to ask if we would have some wine. We said sure, and I joked to my husband, 'What if she's trying to test me to see if I'm pregnant?' Then, when we were there for dinner, she admitted that IT WAS A TEST! I was shocked and honestly disgusted. I felt like it was an invasion of my privacy, especially after all we just went through with her. My husband kind of downplayed it when I told him it upset me."

"Also, because my husband likes to 'spoil me' by packing our child's diaper bag before we go out or helping take care of bottles for feeding, I'm taking advantage of him, and I need to do things myself because there is no possible world where she raised a son to be a devoted companion and life partner. Nope. I'm just an evil witch who's manipulating him and somehow threatening her poor defenseless baby. He is in disbelief. I am too. We have never seen this side of her. I don't know why a grandchild (and not marriage) changed things. I don't even think she likes my baby with how standoffish she is around him."

"So, my boyfriend and I explored different ring ideas together, and he ultimately chose the final color and design himself. I adore mine. Two years into our marriage, my mother-in-law bought herself a ring because she liked the style. It's an oval sapphire halo ring in white gold. That day, I mentioned to my husband that it was strange for her to buy that ring. Even if she insists it means nothing more than she likes the look of it, on a subconscious level, it must have a lot of meaning. 

When she first got the ring, I asked my husband to please ask her not to wear it, at least when we are out together. However, she wears it all the time. It feels like a blatant disregard for my feelings and for my relationship with my husband, and it perfectly exemplifies her behavior toward me. Recently, I noticed she had it on her left ring finger during lunch, which made me feel gross and disgusted. It makes me want to take my own ring off, and there are times when I can't even look at it. I feel like her ring cheapens mine and takes away its meaning."

"MIL's friend has a daughter the same age as my husband, and they grew up together/went to school together. My MIL then tells me that her friend's daughter was 'supposed to be her daughter-in-law.' To my knowledge, that girl and my husband never had any sort of romantic relationship, so it was just weird fantasizing about her son and her friend's daughter ending up together. I don't think it hit me in the moment how wild that comment was to make to my face, freshly postpartum. It's been two years, and it still crosses my mind and angers me, lol."

"So anyway, we were not able to invite my husband's grandparents and part of his family to our wedding, because they are too unwell to travel to a different city, or couldn't come. Because of that, we decided that we would organize a separate wedding celebration lunch just for them in their city. We wanted to organize it at the end of September. Still, we unexpectedly learned that we have to move flats two weeks after the wedding, so that was a HUGE complication, and we wanted to postpone the lunch until after we move, because moving, while working two full-time jobs, is a lot of work and stress. Somehow, I have no idea how, my MIL started to organize it behind our backs. She picked the restaurant we didn't want, reserved it, invited everyone, and just told us the date. She did not discuss this date with us, and it's totally not suitable for us. We said to her that this is not okay with us, and if she can cancel it, and she said she is not able to cancel, and IF WE DON'T COME, IT WILL BE A SHAME, BUT THEY WILL CELEBRATE ANYWAY. 

What the hell? We said that we are not okay with that, and we don't understand how they can celebrate our wedding without us. I guess she will just get in her wedding dress, and that will do. JK. I don't get it. Why is she unable to cancel a reservation that is scheduled more than two weeks from now? Why did she do this behind our backs? Is this a manipulation to get us there, no matter what? I feel like this is another passive-aggressive thing, since she is acting like she is doing us a favor, and sweet as honey, but in reality, she is just totally ignoring our needs and wants."

"Five people separately quoting her saying the same thing was pretty good evidence, but we asked the photographer's second shooter (who was standing more in the back and more likely to see someone hiding out of sight) if she'd been there, and it was confirmed. My husband called to confront her, allowed her to admit it herself by framing it as a question rather than a call-out, and she lied to him. She told him she was nowhere near the vows, then she called me to save face and admitted that 'she hadn't meant to walk by.'

So, two entirely different stories there. My husband ended up telling her that it's her behavior, that she's the only one who truly knows what happened, and that there's a boundary she shouldn't cross. I'm proud of him because he's previously had difficulties with acknowledging and confronting her behavior. She's obviously very entitled to things she wants and very manipulative with how she gets them. Her brain is different than mine, but I can't believe the audacity of a woman twice my age. 'Private' doesn't mean 'Except for you. You're special. We just didn't tell you.'"

"She hadn't visited for about a month for various reasons, so my husband FaceTimed her this afternoon. She didn't know I was around and could hear everything. It's the typical, 'How's my baby boy?' 'My baby is so smart!' 'He looks exactly like you did when you were his age.' Then, she says, 'Look at mama!' I stopped what I was doing and started listening to make sure I heard her right. Sure enough, she doubles down! 'Baby boy, look at mama!' 

My husband corrected her and told her she's not mama, thank god. Her excuse? She doesn't think 'grandma' suits her; she's just 'not a grandma.' Fine by me. We had already settled on Zizi being her grandparent name for this very reason. As my husband continued their conversation, he panned the camera over to me, and she went, 'Oh hi, I didn't realize you were home,' in the most sheepish way possible. I was so mad, I didn't have anything to really say. I completely froze up from anger, unfortunately. I just know she wouldn't have given this 'mama' a test run if she knew I was in the room. MAMA!! I still cannot believe the nerve of this woman."

"I visited them recently with my husband (we don't live in the same country), and my FIL, who is now getting a divorce from my MIL, told my youngest SIL, 'Your mom took all your brother's gold and monetary gifts from his wedding.' What I didn't know was that she took money from my son's birth party. He told her that, too. I'm a little relieved — relieved I was right and wasn't accusing her for no reason."

"She arrives, and there's still no mention of her sleeping arrangements. The first six nights she's here, my husband works nights. Last night, he was off from work. And when it was bedtime, he went into the room she was sleeping in and crawled into bed with her. It was late, and I didn't want to start a fight with the kids sleeping and all. But I feel betrayed and so hurt. Throughout our marriage, I've never felt first place in his life. He's chosen his relatives' needs over mine. Today I started slamming doors and furniture. He knows I'm upset over something. But he's acting like I'm the unreasonable one."

"Since we told her I am pregnant, she has been so, so difficult. She has demanded that my husband fly to her house to do odd jobs that she could easily find someone local to do. My husband and I crunched the numbers, and it's just not affordable for him to take the time off work and pay for the flights. He told her he couldn't do it. She cried and carried on, just making him feel terrible. 

Then, the next time they talk (he tries to call her every one to two weeks), she now needs an operation for a condition she's had for years, and needs someone to come and stay with her for a month after she has it. And my hubby just can't do it, and he feels so terrible about it. I again suggest that we can arrange a live-in nurse (she has quite a bit of money her husband left her when he passed). My husband is such a sweetheart and wants to do the right thing, but financially, with a pregnant wife and a baby on the way, it's just not possible. 

I hate how she guilt-trips him, and I feel like every call is themed with, 'What is she going to throw at him next?' She has always been jealous of our relationship from the beginning. I've taken her precious boy away from her. She hasn't once checked in on me while I've been pregnant, even though I'm carrying her grandchild. Her other son has a 10-year-old, and she has doted on her from day one. I just know she will try something else to try and guilt-trip him. I see other people with the loveliest MILs who actually help them and celebrate their babies, and it makes me so mad that she is the way she is."

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.