I'm Shaking With Rage At The Sheer Audacity Of These 16 AWWWWFUL Mothers-In-Laws
We recently came across the r/motherinlawsfromhell Subreddit, and were absolutely FLOOOOOORED by the many, many infuriating stories of overstepping, rude mothers-in-law of the world. Woof. Here are some of the most obnoxious stories:
1. "This is so bizarre that I still can't believe it. My husband (34M) and I (33F) built a small vacation home next to my in-laws on some farm land. My MIL isn't good with boundaries, so having our own place when we visit seemed like a great idea. My MIL does not have a key. The home and the land it sits on are legally ours, and we paid for them. My MIL had a septic guy out to pump their tank and asked him to open up our tank as well to inspect it. He observed a few things that he advised against flushing and suggested we may be on particular medications, illegal substances, or vitamins based on the tank's content color!! This guy also sounds like a total weirdo. We had no idea she did this."
"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."
2. "My husband and I got married just over a month ago, and it was perfect, and for the most part, my MIL behaved the day of. But since the wedding, she has been crashing out HARD. Our photographers posted some of our wedding sneak peeks to their business Instagram; they are truly gorgeous. There were just a handful-they are sneak peeks after all, and they were mostly of us, the married couple. None of my MILs were posted (which neither of us noticed or cared about). My FIL called my husband and said, 'Your mother is deeply hurt that you asked your photographers not to post her.' Y'ALL. She's absolutely pitching a fit, thinking that we created this conspiracy against her and that we told our photographers not to post pictures of her."
"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."
Related: Parents Are Confessing The Secrets That They Refuse To Tell Their Children, And Wow
3. "We stayed at my MIL's house with our 6-week-old, and she's very dominant. The whole time, she kept telling me not to hold my baby so she wouldn't get 'used to it,' and would wake her or push me to put her down. Also, she was full of opinions about everything. As a result, my baby barely slept and became overtired. The next day, we went to a park for my SIL's gender reveal (my MIL's daughter). It was 87°, there was a DJ (which I didn't know about), and a big crowd. This was my baby's first time in that kind of environment, and she was already overtired, so I kept her on me to help her sleep and avoid overstimulation. My MIL and other family members kept judging my parenting (including why my baby didn't have socks on) and insisting I put her in the stroller. She even made faces at others about me not listening."
"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."
4. "My MIL came over while I was at work and decided my nursery was 'too gloomy.' I came home to find my hand-painted mural covered by some hideous, cheap floral decals because she thought it needed to be 'cheerful.' I'm honestly vibrating with rage right now."
5. "My husband and I (30 and 29) just told our in-laws that I'm pregnant. We did a cute little surprise announcement by bringing them a wrapped pair of baby socks. My MIL gave a very drawn-out, 'Ohhh...congrats. I guess we won't go on any cruises for a while.' And then she talked about how it seemed rushed (we got married in August after dating for five years). Both parents later went all out, saying, literally, that our lives are over, that we'll be too tired to do anything anymore, that their son won't help out at their house anymore, and that he won't do any of his hobbies anymore, etc., etc."
"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."
6. "Long story short, my MIL has severe boundary issues, is narcissistic, and has enmeshment issues with my husband. She constantly tried to micromanage our lives, and there have been disrespect issues for years, with her criticizing our home and how we keep it, moving our stuff around, going through our personal things, etc. Too much to type out, but you get the idea. We have one child and are trying for baby #2 (just started within the last month). We have recently had some issues with my MIL and her over-involvement in our lives, and had a huge blowout just a couple of weeks ago. There was no resolution; it was just swept under the rug like this family always does."
"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."
7. "I've been with my husband for over a decade. We've been married for several years and just had our first child. Before giving birth, I thought I had the best mother-in-law. Nope. Her true colors came out. She has said and done many passive-aggressive things since I gave birth, but the most egregious happened recently with her phoning MY HUSBAND and telling him she has to protect him from ME. Thank god my husband put an end to that, but Jesus Christ??? In what world did she think that was okay to do? Like he wouldn't immediately tell 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."
8. "I've been married for just over five years, and we were engaged for two years before that. My husband asked me about my preferences for engagement rings, including color, stone size, type, and overall style. He then designed the ring himself using an online jeweler. I love my ring; it's unique and truly mine. It features an oval sapphire surrounded by a diamond halo, set in platinum. When my then-boyfriend decided to propose, he asked his mom for one of his grandmother's rings. His grandmother had left several beautiful rings to my mother-in-law, but she refused to give one to him. Even though she doesn't wear them, she keeps them hidden away in a china cabinet."
"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."
9. "My mother-in-law and I don't have the worst relationship, but she has absolutely no filter and can be rude. My husband says it's 'unintentional' most of the time. I was not even two months postpartum with my son when my MIL and her mom came to visit us at our house. Everything was going fine, no unnecessary comments were made from her, but then she asked if it's okay if one of her friends who lives nearby could drop off something for her because she's in the area. No problem, right?"
"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."
10. "My husband (M34) and I (F31) got married last weekend. My MIL was very helpful with cakes she baked for the wedding, but she also showed up in a long white dress with huge cleavage for the evening wedding party. That is a different story. I'm still quite confused and mad about that. She is a woman who always acts like an innocent angel, with a high-pitched voice, and never says anything negative. She only makes these passive-aggressive, innocent comments. You can never know what she really thinks, because she will not tell you."
"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."
11. "My MIL listened in on our private vows. I don't know what possessed her in the first place, but then she was bold enough to walk into the bridal suite afterward and TELL my bridesmaids, 'The vows were so beautiful!' If you're going to do it, why admit to it? ESPECIALLY to the singular group of girls that are the bride's closest friends? They were kind enough to wait a few days to tell me so I wouldn't be angry on/after the wedding day. When I found out, I told my husband, and he was as mad and disgusted as I was."
"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.'"
12. "It finally happened. Only took her eight months to build up the nerve to call herself 'mama' to my baby. A little bit of backstory: This woman made my pregnancy a nightmare. There was always drama. She managed to make everything about herself. She didn't care about the baby until he was born and she could physically hold him. I was ready to go no contact, but I wanted my child to know his grandmother. She's visited our home and only has time with him while one of us is around. She treats him more as a doll she can hold to look at, not cuddle. Or a dancing monkey she can make stand up and practice walking (because her son started walking at 6 months, I'm constantly reminded. She truly believes this, lol)."
"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."
Related: My Dad Had A Shameful Compulsion. I Never Thought I'd Grow Up To Share The Same Secret.
13. "Two years ago, my mother-in-law took our card box and gift box home. In our culture, everyone gifts either gold or money. We had 600 people at the wedding and should have technically had an average of $100 per person, including the thousands our grandparents and extended family gifted. She took it home and didn't let us open it, saying, 'It's not safe at a hotel.' I told my husband before the wedding even happened that she would do this. He cried the night of our wedding when he realized I was right. BUT we never knew if she took anything. She gave the boxes back to us after our honeymoon. So who knows what was missing or not, other than what we assumed, but we didn't even have an eighth of what we expected."
"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."
14. "My MIL is 72, no illness, healthy as a horse. She had three boys. Husband is the middle child and her absolute favorite. She lost her youngest son about 20 years ago. Then her oldest passed last year. She's also widowed, which leaves my husband as her only living kin. We've been married for 11 years and have two kids. MIL lives in a country neighboring mine — about a five-hour drive away. She has relatives within a 20-minute drive, so in case of an emergency, they can reach her. Now my husband has brought her into our home in my country. He didn't discuss this move with me, nor did he discuss the logistics of where she'll be sleeping. We live in a three-bedroom apartment with two kids. He suddenly springs his plans on me a week before her arrival. I was ******, but I didn't want to start a fight."
"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."
15. "I (F39) am currently 34 weeks pregnant. We told my husband's (M42) mother that I was pregnant when I was 12 weeks. She lives in another state. She has always been difficult, but over the last few years, she has become more agreeable and has even stayed with us a couple of times. The last time she came to visit, she was actually sick with COVID, which my husband also caught, but that's another story. My husband feels an obligation to look after her, as it's only him and his brother, and his brother takes no responsibility and offers no help. She lives in a state far away from us."
"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."
16. And: "She made a post on Facebook with a picture of my newborn baby and husband captioned 'my guys.' I literally haven't even made a post yet about my newborn baby, and she went and did that today, not even two days after I gave birth. Two people have asked me if they can post about it. I told them to wait until I've had the time to do it myself. I reported it, but the option for violating the rights of my child isn't an option anymore(?), so I had to say that she was impersonating me instead. I hope that works. My husband will talk to her about it tomorrow, but I keep getting worked up about it. So disrespectful, in my opinion."
Do you have any in-law horror stories you'd like to share? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.
Also in Parents: People Are Confessing Dark Secrets About Their Parents That They Shouldn’t Know
Also in Parents: Older Adults Are Calling Out The "Adulthood Lies" They Wish They Knew In Their 20s
