A young family was in the middle of moving to a new state, and to make the process easier, they stayed with the husband’s parents for a few weeks. They were grateful for the arrangement, but the mother-in-law’s (MIL) behavior made it a uniquely challenging experience.
From the moment they arrived, MIL’s rules and expectations clashed with the realities of having two small children, a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Early on, the three-year-old was scolded for sitting in a specific chair at the dinner table. MIL declared that she had claimed that chair five years ago, and no one else was allowed to sit there. The incident set the tone for the visit.
Mealtime became another battleground. MIL insisted that the one-year-old eat his meals while sitting on a high bar stool, despite its obvious impracticality for a toddler. One night, she served him a bowl of hot soup a mixture of watered-down beef broth, barley, and freeze-dried broccoli. Unsurprisingly, the child didn’t eat it, and even the father-in-law (FIL) admitted it wasn’t appetizing, describing it as “really crunchy.”
MIL also had a strange fixation with drinks. She believed milk was the only acceptable beverage and refused to allow the children to drink water. The parents had to sneak water to their kids whenever MIL wasn’t looking. On top of that, MIL insisted that their daughter only play with dolls, claiming that’s what girls should do. This didn’t sit well with the three-year-old, who much preferred dinosaurs and often repurposed the dolls’ clothes for her toy dinosaurs. MIL hated dinosaurs, which only added to the tension.
The father-in-law, by contrast, was a ray of light. He spent hours playing with the children, engaging in their games, and making them laugh. However, he was visibly anxious about his wife’s strict standards, cleaning up after the kids constantly to avoid being scolded for allowing them to make a mess.
The family counted the days until they could move into their new home. While they appreciated having a temporary place to stay, the MIL’s behavior and lack of flexibility made the visit so stressful that she became a major factor in their decision to move three hours away. They were determined to create a peaceful life in their new home, free from MIL’s overbearing influence.