Mil

G'day,

OK this is a rant to get something off my chest.

MIL is down doing a great job of helping SHMBO. What I don't appreciate is when you have a disagreement with SWMBO and MIL steps in and says, 'Well she is upset you know" Flaming hell! To me that's crossing the line, FIL does that and that has tarnished the friendship and we don't see eye to eye as a result and has lost the right for me to call him "dad". If he wants that right he has to earn it, now MIL is doing the same and will soon lose the "Mum".

Is it only me? Or is there someone else that has the same problem, ie. in-laws stepping in with their 2¢ in husband/wife disagreements, even in the slightest disagreement. To me they should stay out of it and not become involved because when they do they lose any respect I might have with them.

Rant over.

Hey Waldo, I think it's over the mark, boundary, fence, line whatever. WAY over....


Like when MIL steps in when I'm dealing with the kids and I've just said "No, please don't do that because of this very good reason" and she says something that completely ruins my authority with the kids on that point :mad:

RR

G'day Rufflyrustic,

I told SWMBO when FIL was down recently to have a quiet word in his ear that if he said anything about a particular subject that I'd launch into him, I don't want to have to do that with MIL as I respect her, but interfering in matters between parents / kids or husband and wife is going too far.

The problem is it's like they think my wife is still under their roof and won't let go, and so don't think about keeping out of things or that she/we are big people now and our decisions are ours. They are allowed to have opinions but forget that they are just that - opinions, not the law according to FIL for eg.

Thanks for the post and your understanding. :)

As much as i get on well with mine, I never felt the 'mum' and 'dad' thing is the right way to go. We are just on a first name basis and that keeps it nice and simple. I don't think my actual mum would like me calling my MIL 'mum' anyway and I'd certainly feel strange doing it.

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Originally Posted by Gumby

As much as i get on well with mine, I never felt the 'mum' and 'dad' thing is the right way to go. We are just on a first name basis and that keeps it nice and simple.

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Same here.

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Originally Posted by craigb

Same here.

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Thanks Dad. :D

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Originally Posted by Gumby

As much as i get on well with mine, I never felt the 'mum' and 'dad' thing is the right way to go. We are just on a first name basis and that keeps it nice and simple. I don't think my actual mum would like me calling my MIL 'mum' anyway and I'd certainly feel strange doing it.

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I never have felt comportable with it and every time I say it, it's with some hesitation and I'm sure they pick it up. Harder thing is calling FIL Dad when my Dad died a bit over 3 years ago.

To keep it in perspective, all our swmbo's and hwmbo's are the sons and daughters of our mils and fils.

Now think about your own son and daughter and try and imagine yourself not having something to say when the deadbeat boyfriend with a pickle in his nose says something that you think is out of line to your daughter. Or maybe when the skanky deadbeat girlfriend tells your son to earn more money, will you not want to slap her down?

I know this for certain, that even though my daughters are only 14, 10, 6 - I am going to set new boundaries for obnoxious FIL's - and I don't give a toss. The girls may as well enter the nunnery now cause NO boy is ever going to be good enough!!!

G'day Namtrak,

Fair post, but sometimes the umbilical cord has to cut and boundries be set. That's my fight and the husband of SIL has the same problem - except I won't take it.

To your point, your children are still under your roof so it's by your rules and values that they live until such a time and you hope that what you have tried to teach them goes with them and stays with them.

First and foremost, I love my Mum dearly..... but.......

Mum has been staying with us since just before New Year. She will be staying with us for at least another 3 weeks. HWMNBO is coping, just.

Mum still occaisionally treats me like her baby daughter, but mostly treats me as me. I respect her for this and try my utmost to love and respect her in return.

However, if she cleans my house One More Time, especially tidying up private papers and our bedroom, I'm gonna get 'cubed' and explode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There, that feels better, so yes Waldo, I really do empathise with you.

Sometimes a graceful/ungraceful and even very hurried and undignified rush to the sanctuary of the shed is needed. I just ran away to Major Panic's instead :) (edit - for one afternoon of getting away from it all)

cheers
Wendy

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Originally Posted by rufflyrustic

First and foremost, I love my Mum dearly..... but.......


Sometimes a graceful/ungraceful and even very hurried and undignified rush to the sanctuary of the shed is needed. I just ran away to Major Panic's instead :)

cheers
Wendy

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Did that once and she followed me down to duke it out. We hugged and made up, but that was when she crossed the line which I thought she wouldn't do. A couple of years ago FIL dragged me into a garage to have it out - I told him to " off" (can I say that?) and he learnt that I'll stand up to him, which probably surprised him. We all get along but sometimes that button will get pushed too hard.

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Originally Posted by Waldo

G'day Namtrak,

Fair post, but sometimes the umbilical cord has to cut and boundries be set.............values that they live until such a time and you hope that what you have tried to teach them goes with them and stays with them.

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Why?

What gives an interloper more rights in the life of my flesh and blood?

I know this all sounds pretty draconian - I'm not really that bad, playing the Devils Advocate more than anything. At the end of the day I believe it's all about respect. My respect for the choices my daughters make (as long as they make the right ones :rolleyes: ), the respect any potential thieving interlopers have my daughters and their parents, and the respect my daughters have for themselves and others around them (but mostly their father, ooops parents yeh).

Personally I have a great relationship with my MIL, she is pretty cool all things considered. One odd little insight is the way both swmbo and I respond to each others opinions about their in-laws. SWMBO can sit their moaning and whining about her mum, but the moment I jump in and say "yeh, the other day she give me the tom-tits....." well just watch out!! And the same goes for me, I can sit there bitching and moaning about my folks but the minute SWMBO adds her two bits worth - boy do I get all self-righteous!!!! What a weird world!

Damn Wendy you get to run away to Major Panics place. What I wouldn't give for a few days there! That would be just sensational! Could finally learn how to do decent woodwork.

My Mother in Law is Japanese, so I just call her Oka San or mum she likes it and that is pretty cool. The FIL I just call by his name Akisada. Anyway seeing we don't have a common language they don't butt in easy.

Actually my father doesn't butt in either which is a downer as it has lead to my sister and I being estranged. I still don't know what the arguement is but it seems to be that John Howard was re elected time before last. She just thinks politics is too important. Yep we do need Dad to put his foot down and pull everyone back into line. After all the speaches he made that he wouldn't allow any breakup or anyone to be excluded from the family,"it will only happen over my dead body" and well not game to tell her to behave. What do you do about that. Anyway I guess I am just bored silly with the whole thing. Used to go to their place and the kids get bumped out of the picture and the conversation boils down to, Bill Clinton is a great president, George W Bush is the anti Christ who will destroy the world as it is meant to be, John Howard is a lap dog, Alexander Downer is a pommy stuck up git who we have to get out of office. When they get wound up I get to hear what a great PM Gough was and how the system is endemically rotten and twisted against good and right.

I just want to ask them don't they have any friends didn't their kids do something at school, don't you have something happening in your life worth talking about. WHY are you talking so much about these people you have never even met?

Rant finished

SO
I want to get into Major's Shed actually his darkroom would be a pretty good thing too

Grandparents shouldn't undermine Parents and getting involved in an arguement between a couple is way out of line. My kids are smart enough to know about divide and conquer at 5 and 8, when they come to me for something I often hear that warning bell going and ask them what did your mother say? If she has told them something they won't get to weasel out of it by going behind her. I expect the same from my wife too.

Shooting your MIL is still illegal. Is it fair if she butts in like that to just tell her that if she wants to stay in your house she will have to respect your rules?

Studley

I'm pretty lucky with my in laws. They don't comment on affairs between SWMBO and myself and we generally don't air our dirty laundry in front of them anyway.

Her MIL is a different matter. She makes comments that SWMBO picks up on. Later she'll say "did you hear what your mum said about blah". I reply "nah, she was just joking". SWMBO is sure that she's not. Reckons she says these things to her when I'm not around - "she never says anything in front of you but I know she's having a go at me". Usually things to do with her playing golf instead of sitting at home looking after kids like she had to when I was a kid.

But I'm like Namtrak. If any snotty nosed kid so much as raises his voice to my daughter, he'll wish he'd never been born!

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Originally Posted by namtrak

Why?

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To me it's about letting others make the choices they deem fit in their life, to have an arguement or sim'. Sometimes they may or may not make the choices you might or worse still have an opinion that doesn't for with yours.

(to clear the air - said disagreement was insignificant)

If marrying a daughter of whatever family means that I won't ever have a relationship with my wife because the in-laws think they can walk in and their word is the WORD and without interferance, then what sort of relationship will that be? Especially to that of the side of the in-laws?