Not everyone lives happily ever after in a marriage. Pesky in-laws can sometimes feel the need to go out of their way to show their disapproval of the union. This friction always forms a chasm between relationships, no matter how hard they try to block them out. Here, people share the time their MILs made them want to pull their hair out.
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All stories have been edited for clarity.
Wishy-Washy

“I got pregnant by my ex-husband before we were married.
The news angered his mother. She went out of her way to show her disapproval in different ways. She would pry into our relationship and constantly hint at how we weren’t ready for children and should ‘reconsider.’ I knew exactly what she was implying but ignored her endless negative remarks. Seeing that she wasn’t going to have her way, my mother-in-law banned me from her house because I wouldn’t get an abortion.
Then, after I married her son, she told us she was too ashamed to tell her side of the family her son had a shotgun wedding. She emphasized that she didn’t want me near her because I ’embarrassed her.’
It was hurtful, but I got through it despite her ill feelings toward me. Later into my pregnancy, I was shocked when my mother-in-law had a change of heart and claimed she couldn’t wait to take her grandchild to work and ‘show him off.’ To this day, I’m still not sure what made her change her mind, but the damage was already done.
‘That’s never going to happen,’ I told my (then) husband.
Before my son was born, my husband and I had a disagreement and got a divorce. Months later, I gave birth all by myself. I was fine being away from the drama for once.
Our son will be turning nineteen in a couple of weeks. However, his father has only been involved in his life since he was sixteen.
Here’s the kicker: My ex-mother-in-law has yet to meet our son.
She apparently had a change of heart again after the divorce.
Anyway, it’s her loss and certainly not my son’s.”
Kick Me While I’m Down

“My mother-in-law was a cruel woman. I lost my father to cancer when I was twenty-eight. My dad and I were very close. He was the dad all girls dream of. Months after he passed, my husband and I went to visit my mother-in-law. She lived about two hours from us so we were going to stay with her for a few days.
After we made it, my mother-in-law asked me how I was doing after losing my father. Not thinking anything of it, I told her that I was ok but I missed my father so much.
As soon as the words left my mouth, my mother-in-law grinned at me before letting out a sinister laugh. I quickly realized she only asked that to get me to open up to her so she could taunt me.
She said, ‘Well good! Now you know what it feels like to lose something, don’t you.’
I paused for a moment, gathered my things, picked up my two-year-old daughter, and left. My husband was standing right there and made no move to interject.
I let him know I was leaving and he needed to decide if he was staying or leaving with me. On that day, he left with me. Unfortunately, he was raised by this woman and his anger and cruelty eventually came out. Later we got a divorce.
That day I learned to only confide in people I trust.
For all of you that have caring and thoughtful mothers-in-law, be thankful.”
“Lovely Woman”

“My MIL and I got along great before I married her son. She was funny and more relaxed than my mom, so being around her was a new experience.
After I married her son, things dramatically changed.
First, when I was engaged to her son, my MIL-to-be told me her two daughters, who were going to be two of my bridesmaids, hated the dresses I had chosen for the ceremony. I was devastated and felt obligated to change them not even realizing she lied because she didn’t like the dress.
When my daughter was two, we arranged for her to stay overnight with my mother-in-law while we went to a wedding. When we came back for her, we discovered that my mother-in-law was way more malicious than we realized.
She slapped my very young daughter because she didn’t want to wear the dress my mother-in-law bought for her.
At one point, my mother-in-law told me my son looked like he had a birth defect because of the way he looked in a school photo.
After eleven years of marriage, her son cheated on me while he was away for almost a month. When I decided I had had enough of his crap, I left, taking our kids to stay with my parents for a few weeks.
Of course, my mother-in-law accused me of leaving him and refused to see any fault in her son’s actions. When we were officially separated, I decided to go back to work as a teacher.
Upon hearing my plans, my mother-in-law asked me, ‘How can you control students when you can’t even control your own kids?’
Lovely woman.”
You ARE The Father

“Days after my oldest was born, my insane ex-mother-in-law walked into the hospital room and shouted, ‘Thank goodness it’s not my grandchild! My son is gonna divorce your ass!’
Now my mom is Native American, my dad is part German, and his mom is mixed but has ruby red hair and green eyes. My baby’s dad is mixed, he and his family have blonde and sandy blond hair with all blue eyes.
My baby was born with red hair and blue eyes. His hair is curly like mine and my dad’s mom’s. My ex-husband had a DNA test done because his mother planted in his mind that our son wasn’t his. Long before the results came back, she kept encouraging her son to get a divorce.
I should have divorced my ex-husband then and there, but I thought I loved him, so I stayed. When I got pregnant again almost two years later, my mother-in-law lost it. I ended up getting a restraining order on her. My mother-in-law was even arrested after violating it quite a few times.
Later in my second pregnancy, we found out I was having twins. My ex-husband freaked out and got a vasectomy immediately after. I had twins who were totally different from my firstborn because they were born with blue eyes but had dark brown hair like mine. My mother-in-law convinced her son to take another DNA test. Once again he was proven to be the father of my kids.
My ex-husband and his mom soon learned don’t mess with me or my kids. My twins only saw their grandmother one time and that was because my son invited his dad to his going away party. His dad bought my ex-mother-in-law along so she saw most of her grandkids, but both had to leave when things got heated and I threatened to call the police because I still had a restraining order against her and wanted nothing to do with her.
My ex-mother-in-law died a few days later, but all my kids and grandkids saw who she really was.”