Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Out-Laws

It shouldn’t surprise me that since we often use our blogs to vent that there are so many mother-in-law stories out there. I love a good mother-in-law story. Sadly, I don’t have a MIL – she died before mr b and I married. And to be honest, she was the sweetest woman. She was the same age as my grandmas and was just as kind and loving, so I doubt I would have had any stories to tell about her that didn’t involve, “OMG, I love my MIL so much…”

I do, however, have six sisters-in-law. They range in age from 13 years older to almost 30 years older than me. In general, I have a great relationship with all of them, and don’t have many in-law stories to tell. But there is one that has been fodder for a few. She’s a very sweet, generous person, but she can drive you a little crazy. She needs to be the boss at all times. She wants to control who goes where and does what and eats what. She goes through life assuming. Assuming she is right, assuming that everyone feels the exact way she does. And since I have strong opinions on. . .oh. . .everything, and am not one to keep my damned mouth shut, we’ve had our moments. She’s very catholic, so needless to say that has been a source of conflict over the years – especially when we were planning the wedding. And during every mention of politics in the history of our relationship, ever. Most of the things are small and stuff you laugh at later, but at the time, you want to scream. And while we are close and I love her, those moments have been many. My favorites:

*Shortly before the wedding, she informed me that all of the sisters would be wearing white to represent their mother. Ummm…WTF? And also – no.

*After being told no to the white, she informed me that they would all be wearing dresses to match the bridesmaids color. Not that I was bridezilla or anything, but I just thought this was weird and annoying. Fortunately, so did the other sisters.

*She had (several times) invited us to come to dinner and when we got there, no one was home. Or her family was there, but she wasn’t. Surprise!

*She’s big on inviting people to other people’s events. Or not giving all the info. For instance – she invited us to one of her kids; houses around Christmas and when we showed up, they were running around like crazy, cleaning and getting ready for a party with their in-laws. Needless to say, we felt like assholes and hightailed it out of there.

*And the time she told us that her son wanted us to come over for a holiday dinner. We showed up and rang the doorbell and he opened the door and said, “Hey! Wow! Gina and mr b are here! Hey!” Clearly, he did not have a clue we were coming. This was extra evident when we walked into the dining room (all while he was still saying “wow! Hey!”), and saw that he , his wife, his parents and her parents were already seated and eating dinner at a table for six. Thanks, SIL – we don’t feel like assholes at all!


Anyway – I want you to tell me your best MIL story! Your MIL (or SIL, if that’s the case) doesn’t read my blog so you can say what you want in my comments. Come on – fess up!

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5 comments:

beanski said...

OHMYGOD I have considered starting an anonymous blog just so that I could bitch about my MIL. She is the reason that I never want a son...I don't want to treat some poor, nice girl that marries my son the way I've been treated.

She freaked out about the name WE chose for OUR daughter when she was born and single-handedly sent me spiraling into Post Partum Depression for weeks on end. I will never forgive her for ruining that time for my husband and I and our daughter.

Gina is a pretty solid name, if I do say so myself :)

Anonymous said...

Oh there are just so many to choose from...

I'll choose the time that my husband had just had a book published (very niche book, no New York Times Bestseller or anything)and he showed her the first copy. She immediately flipped to the dedication page and complained that he had not mentioned her in the dedication. I was absolutely dumbstruck. I still am, every time I think about it.

meno said...

I hope you never trust anything that your SIL tells you.

My husband doesn't speak to his 82 year old mother. When his dad died (she had divorced him 5 years previously) she sent my husband a letter telling him how it was all his fault.

Yeah, apparently my husband can cause brain tumors. Who knew?

Anonymous said...

I posted this comment in the wrong place. ooops.

Anywho: I started a comment about my MIL, and it turned into this. Nice job! It's got MIL and Republicans. good times.

rpm

Anonymous said...

Hi! First post. (No s***.)

I'm pretty lucky with my MiL, although she does like to talk about pus, blood and gore at mealtimes, and she has been known to anally probe livestock at breakfast. First coupla times it fair put me off my muesli, I can tell you.

She's a farmer, in case you were wondering