We either love our in-laws or just tolerate them. And for those who just tolerate them, any encounters with them isn’t always the easiest. These married people share the most aggravating encounter with their in-laws. Content has been edited.
Our Gifts Or Our MIL’s?
“While my then boyfriend/ fiancé and I were dating, I liked his mom. She still is a sweet woman, but most of the time she gets right under my skin.
Soon after we got married, my husband and I traveled for our honeymoon. We had a great time and looked forward to coming home.
When we came home and settled in we thought it would be a good time to start opening some gifts from the wedding. They mainly consisted of envelopes and were mainly handed to my mother-in-law to hold on to. Now, I’m not sure if she thought because they were handed over to her, they were meant for her? When we requested to see them so we could open them, she replied telling us she had already opened them and spent some money paying off some bills from the wedding. According to her, she said she did us a favor by paying them for us. I was not only confused, but livid! Who does that??
She continued telling us not to worry because she’d written down everyone’s name and the amount they gifted so we would know… like that’s supposed to justify what you did? I let my husband express how he felt about it, I didn’t want to start drama between us and dropped it. Move forward.
A few months after being married, I got pregnant and she decided to throw me a baby shower with mainly her friends and family. A few of my friends and family were invited. It was a nice gesture and a good turnout. After it was over and days after settling in, she insisted we open gifts as she would like to see what her friends and family had gifted me- and you guessed it! She took over and decided to open every gift I received. My fault for not stopping her and asking her to stop opening my gifts, again my reasoning was I didn’t want to upset her or feel disrespectful. After this event, I began disliking her. I’m not sure how she thought that was also okay. I know I shouldn’t be complaining because I chose to not speak up during when it happened. I felt like she sucked out that moment I should be enjoying. Did she think these were her gifts because it was a shower consisting mainly her friends and family? I never asked her to invite them. She paid for the shower and invited whom ever she wanted.
It went downhill from there. I didn’t like who she was and how she felt she had entitlement over me. When my daughter was born, she held her at the hospital for hours and would only be passed to me when it was time to nurse her. She continued to open every gift that came in for my daughter before it was passed over to me. I don’t like that woman.”
“Did You Guys Forget Something?”
“One time, my brother and sister-in-law came from overseas for a holiday with their four children. During this time, they were also planning to attend a friend’s wedding elsewhere in the country.
My brother and SIL stayed for a few days, then prepared to leave for the six-hour drive to the wedding where they were planning to stay for three nights. However, they got in the car without loading their four children inside, then proceeded to back down the driveway.
We had no previous discussion about this part of the plans they had made. My brother and SIL made a major assumption about how my husband and I were going to watch their four young children for three days and nights.
My husband chased the car down the driveway and said, ‘Did you guys forget something?’
They were livid when we made them go back to the house, pack the children’s belongings, and change their plans. They didn’t consider how my husband and I felt about watching their children, and they didn’t have any common courtesy.
I had come to never underestimate my brother and SIL’s rudeness and sense of entitlement. It had no bounds.”
Selfish FIL
“My father-in-law didn’t like me at all. He was one of the meanest men I had ever met.
My FIL was passive-aggressive, and he would either make his displeasure known by using cold silence or pretending like I wasn’t in the room. Or more likely, he used actions that were always cruel.
For example, one holiday morning, he and his wife asked to speak to my wife (his daughter) and me in private. At this point, my wife and I had a daughter who was only one year old. My FIL and MIL started the conversation by telling my wife and me about how we were terrible parents because we let our daughter sleep in too late.
My MIL proceeded to say, ‘I want to kidnap your daughter and fly her to a place where you will never find her again.’
My FIL shook his head and added, ‘You are the most obnoxious and self-centered person I have ever met. I wholeheartedly despise you.’
Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best holiday ever. The same night, karma came and gave my MIL and FIL the stomach flu. My wife and I left the next morning, and our relationship with my in-laws was never the same.
Years later, my FIL visited my wife and me. He and his new wife took us out to dinner, and we spent the day together talking and laughing. I kept my distance because even though he was being friendly, I still felt like I couldn’t trust him.
After dinner, I heard my FIL rambling about not being able to find directions to get to his nearby hotel. I gave him directions, but he disregarded me and began looking at a map on his phone.
His wife asked, ‘Why are you looking it up? He just gave you the right directions.’
My FIL turned to me and coldly said, ‘I’m not trusting any instructions he gives me.’
Just in one second, he revealed his true self and made me furious.
Flashback twenty years ago, my wife and I joined the in-laws and their kids on a family vacation. It was a holiday in July, and my FIL and his grown children were sitting on the dock at the lake. My FIL and his children decided to blow off some fireworks, and it sounded like a good time. Even though there were enough fireworks for us all to have fun, my FIL completely disregarded me while I sat off to the side alone. Once again, I was resentful.
Ten years ago, I hosted a holiday party for our family. My FIL had been drinking, and he began asking me ridiculous questions.
He asked, ‘So, what life goals do you think you have?’
Before I got the chance to answer, my FIL responded, ‘My goal is to retire by seventy years old and outlive my ex-wife. I can’t wait until the day when I can dance on her grave.’
Sweet guy. Everyone could dream.”
Birthday Party Chaos
“My sister-in-law is truly the Wicked Witch of the West. She acted rudely toward me ever since my husband and I’s engagement. She threw a fit on the day of our wedding ceremony, and threw huge tantrums two months before our wedding, too! She and her husband demanded money from her parents for taking care of her own mother. She encouraged her parents to throw her own brother out of the house. The following day, she asked for shares in the property.
One time when I was with her, she yelled, ‘If you and my brother get married, I will never step foot in your house!’
She would still come to our house nearly every day after she said this to us. My husband and I kept our cool until after our wedding in hopes we wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore.
This past August, we were supposed to go on vacation for a couple of days. Prior to our trip, my father-in-law celebrated his birthday. On the day of his birthday, we spoke to him and tried to plan festivities for the day. He wasn’t interested in celebrating his birthday, and my husband and I didn’t make anything of it. The same weekend, we left for our trip. At the same time, my SIL visited her parents. While we were out, she called their entire family to celebrate her father’s birthday. She kept uploading pictures on social media strictly for my husband to see.
My husband was so upset. He had asked both his parents if they wanted to make birthday plans, even before we left for our trip. They never mentioned anything about his sister coming or the entire family coming. A few days later, he called his father and they got into a big fight. After this incident, we decided we will never do anything for them again.
When we came back from our vacation, my SIL and his parents fought with him for calling and yelling at them just because they celebrated his father’s birthday. In a fit of anger, my SIL pushed my husband and hit him.
Both of his parents were staring at her, and told my husband, ‘Watch it! You need to learn how to control your anger.’
While this was happening, they didn’t utter a single word to their daughter.
For six hours, she kept telling her parents about they made a mistake bringing my husband and me back home, and how it would be better if we all stayed separated.
My SIL whined, ‘Dad, remove them from the house! They don’t belong here anymore!’
After the argument, my husband and I went to our room. We decided we needed to move out of the house immediately. When his parents realized we wouldn’t be staying with them, they quickly changed their tune. This angered my SIL even more.
Since the incident, my husband and I have completely cut ties with his sister. If she comes to the house, we both stay in our room. Just recently, she threw a huge tantrum on Diwali when she found out about my pregnancy. She insisted we invite her to our baby shower, and my family members actually listened to her. I decided I no longer wanted to have a shower at all if she had to be there. I asked my side of the family to hold a get-together for me, and ignored my in-laws altogether.”