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!