NEED TO KNOW
- A woman who recently gave birth says her mother-in-law has begun making “backhanded comments” about her parenting skills
- In a post on Reddit, she writes that there’s been “a slow build of tension” with the woman since the birth of her son
- Now, she’s reached her breaking point
A woman who recently gave birth says her mother-in-law has begun making “backhanded comments” about her parenting skills — and she’s reached her breaking point.
In a post shared to Reddit, the woman writes that there’s been “a slow build of tension” ever since her son was born 10 months ago.
“It started with little digs with saying things like, ‘I’m surprised how much you’re enjoying this,’ (referencing motherhood) and commenting to other people that she is pleasantly surprised that I am as nurturing as I’ve been towards my son,” she writes. “She’s told my husband multiple times that he’s ‘changed… and not for the better,’ clearly implying that I’m to blame because his political and religious views no longer align with theirs.”
She continues: “They’ve also made comments in the last few months to my husband that I ‘run the show,’ so it’s obvious that they don’t 100% approve of me. My husband is absolutely on my side, btw.”
But it was one moment, she adds, that finally pushed her “over the edge.”
“The other day, my MIL turned to me and said, ‘I’m surprised you made it this far!’ referencing the fact that I’m still breastfeeding. I naturally asked why. Her response? ‘Because it’s just such a sacrifice.’ Packaged in a positive and uplifting tone, as if she was giving me some kind of compliment,” she writes.
She continues: “Am I crazy to find this SO offensive? I’ve done mental gymnastics trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, trying to see this in a way where it wasn’t said with snide and disapproval. But no matter what, I keep coming back to the fact that she said she is surprised *I* made it this far – not that she is surprised people generally make it this far. I think she really showed how little she thinks of me. Am I insane?”
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Others on Reddit are offering their support to the poster, with many suggesting the woman turn the tables.
“Look at her, say ‘wow,’ and change the conversation. Hand the awkwardness back to her,” writes one.
Adds another: “This would make me stop dead in my tracks, look at her with a very seriously curious expression and ask, ‘What do you mean when you say that?’ Make her try [to] explain herself in a way that’s not offensive.”
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