The mother-in-law from Hell

I don't think it's a coincidence that babies start smiling at six weeks. They know they're on thin fucking ice.

 

I ran this story by my wife to get a mother's reaction. She basicsllty backed the wife 100 percent, though acknowledged that she should wait a while before making major life decisions.

As for me, the guy needs to back his wife, but I don't fault him for not socking his own mother in the face and vowing to never speak to her again. He's an only child, he probably has a close relationship with his mother. I get that.

 

It does seem like the MIL may have voted Hillary ... you know, entitlements and all.

 

Boom!

(not @Boom)

 

I certainly wouldn't rule out MS.

 

When you marry, you marry the family. My ex-MIL might have done something this stupid if she lived close by. She's not the brightest bulb, though her heart is more or less in the right place. When my daughter was like a year and a half old, she would visit my wife's parents and always jump on the bed, which was pretty high. We had warned them about this and told them to keep the bedroom door closed. But my daughter loved it so much that her grandmother just couldn't refuse her. One day when she was visiting there without me or my wife, my daughter bounded off the bed and cracked her eye on the edge of a bureau. My dolt of a mother in law calls me and tells me what happened, says my daughter's eye is filled with blood and what should she do. I can hear my daughter wailing in the background, and I yelled, "Take her to the hospital right now!" and then I drove the half hour between us in about two minutes.

Turns out my daughter had gashed her eyelid. She had to have a few stitches, but otherwise was fine, though a bit shaken. Meanwhile, my mother in law was catatonic. She got reamed by her daughter and her husband, so I didn't think it was necessary to pile on. At the hospital I merely said to her, "These things happen," even though I wanted to strangle her. If her daughter and husband had given her a pass, I don't know how I would have reacted.

The mother in law remains an idiot. She texted me a few months ago and asked if she could take my daughter for St. Paddy's weekend (when I had her) because she was going to Maine for her other granddaughter's birthday party. I said fine, because I assumed she had asked my ex-wife beforehand. I had no idea they hadn't been getting along recently. A day before they are supposed to leave, the MIL texts me and says she's sorry, but she can't take my daughter on the trip. I had made plans weeks in advance and now had to scrap them, which was no big deal, but still. Then my ex calls me and tells me in no uncertain terms not to make arrangements with her mother without her knowledge. My daughter couldn't go on the trip because she was getting over a cold and her uncle (who basically keeps his kid in a bubble) didn't want to risk the possibility that his kid could get a cold.

Even in divorce, you're still married to the family. So even if this woman in the story does get divorced, I doubt she's going to keep the grandmother away. Not unless she gets full custody and permits no visitation rights to the husband. Her best bet is to just hire someone to whack grandma, so that everyone can live happily ever after.

 

I love how you go from "cooler heads should prevail" to a murder-for-hire plot in the space between sentences.

 

My parents when I was growing up were a piece of work, I will say politely.
But one thing I will give them credit for is they NEVER interfered in my marriage. Never had one negative comment about my wife. Never gave one piece of advice to us about raising my children. They have both passed, and I really really appreciate their ability to stay the fuck out of their kids' marriages.

My oldest is married, has a baby, and one on the way. I stay the fuck out of everything unless I am asked, and then jump in with both feet. I abhor older people who get involved with their adult children's lives, and marriages.
My wife watches the grandson all day, twice a week. I've had a couple of babysitting sessions when my wife was out. We have a great relationship with our daughter in law. We aren't getting our first overnight with the baby until this summer.

The thought of stealing a four-week old in the middle of the night is unfathomable. If this is on the up and up.

 

If I had experienced the panic this woman had endured when she discovered her baby was not in her crib, I would have been down with justifiable homicide.

 

Oh, those guys are really even-keeled, no-drama types.

 

"Her best bet is to just hire someone to whack grandma, so that everyone can live happily ever after."

I prefer to call it problem solving

 

No one is defending the MIL. There's no indication that the son/husband defended the MIL.
Nor is there any indication that he opposed the wife.
I presume that he also is extremely angry. He takes the MIL's keys away.
Presumably, MIL will apologize.

The wife is justifiably angry, but she is also taking the baby and refusing to tell him where they are. She says she can't go back to the house, possibly ever. She wants a restraining order against MIL and possibly a divorce.
He is justified in trying to calm her down. That is not oppositional.