Hubbie and I have been together for 15 years. We both work full-time and share the chores at home. I cook, and he does the dishes. My MIL adores her son and, in her eyes, no one is good enough for him.
We’ve never lived in the same city. The first time she visited our home I cooked my best dinner, 4 courses, nice drinks — the whole works to impress her. After dessert and coffee, my husband started taking the dishes to the sink and washed them, while still making small conversation with my MIL and myself (I was exhausted after a day of work and cooking).
The moment my husband’s hands touched the water, my MIL’s face changed. Her mouth twisted, and she started mumbling and breathing weirdly. She apologized and walked out. I thought she just had gone outside to take a moment, so I went to lie down in my bed. I was about to lie down when I heard my husband consoling his mom, as she was crying. She didn’t know that I went to my room and could hear them.
She started sobbing about all the sacrifices she made to give him a good life, that she never thought she would see him washing dishes, that she had raised him better than this. She claimed I broke her heart for making him do house chores. My husband is the best man ever, he has an incredible sense of humor, and he found the whole situation risible.
He started laughing very loudly and asked her to stop the drama. He told her that they had just had one of the best home-cooked dinners of their lives, that I had worked very hard to have a nice dinner, and that crying over some dishes was infantile. He went as far as tickling his mom to stop her crying.
That first visit set the tone of the relationship between my MIL and me. She hates me, dislikes my daughters, and, over time, spends less and less time with her son. Last I heard, she wants my husband to travel (we live in a different country now) to her place, so she can put her affairs in order, as she claims she will die soon and wants to leave in peace. My husband kindly told her that she should spend her wealth and that she doesn’t need him to write a will.
Can anyone else relate?
Source: Brightside
