I had a lovely time on Monday night all by myself here but things came crashing down on Tuesday when the evil mother-in-law returned. I was out when she got here. When I pulled in the driveway and saw her car I felt this crushing weight on my chest. Since then I’ve felt like I’m about 2 seconds away from bursting into tears alternating with bursts of rage.
I’ve been taking it out on the husband. It must be really bad because he mentioned to me on the phone today that I sounded upset. That surprised me so much that I sort of blew it off. He’s not known for being so observant about my moods especially on the phone. We are going to dinner as soon as he gets home. I’d love to say that we are going to hash this out and come up with a solution but I know that’s not true. That’s why I feel so hopeless now.
I’m leaving town in the morning to go judge a trail ride all weekend. I’m so glad I’m going. I really need to get out of here.
My officemate’s life rule no. 1 is never criticitze anything about your spouse’s parents in front of your spouse, no matter how evil. The spouse can criticize his/her parents all she/he wants. The reasoning behind this is well, that his/her mother and it hurts badly went someone else criticizes them. After reading your post, I am beginning to wonder if there is not some loophole in this rule.
Seems to me that the mother-in-law issue could harm your marriage, so best to start working on it together now, once and for all. I don’t think that “for better or worse” includes taking in the in-laws.