Monster Mother-In-Law Stories That We Can’t Help But Laugh At

“My mother-in-law told me the following things, without provocation: ‘Nancy, it’s not that you're fat, you’re just short,’ ‘I like you better than Kathleen (her other daughter-in-law), you don’t have a big nose,’ and ‘Nancy, does Bobby (my ex, her son) hate me? You know I didn’t want him.’” — Nancy on HuffPost

“I had a call from a woman whose son was getting married, and upon discussing a meeting to sign the contract I asked her whether she will come with the couple.

‘Oh, not exactly. It will be just me.’

‘I’d love to hear what the couple wants.’

‘They don’t want anything. My son will do as I please.’

‘And what about the bride?’

‘She will do what my son tells her to do, and he will do as I please.’

I chose to decline and suggested they looked for another photographer. I was still quite new to the field, and this attitude promised trouble.” — savageexplosive on Reddit

“My [mother-in-law] wrote her son a letter a week before we got married telling him to think very carefully about what he was doing, as he needed to be sure he was marrying someone he loved and trusted (we had been together for six very happy years at this point! ) She later walked out of our wedding in tears, drove home (seven hours away!) without saying anything to anyone, and then followed that up by emailing me saying she didn’t know what (her son) saw in me.” — DD211205 on Reddit

“I was hosting Thanksgiving dinner and spent about seven to eight hours cooking. My [mother-in-law] showed up with duplicate dishes of just about everything I made (we told her to only bring two dishes, tops). When I commented that we had a lot more food than I was expecting, she said, ‘Well, we don’t really need to put yours out, do we? Just put yours in the freezer.” — Melissa Linton Ferrell on BuzzFeed

“Shortly after my engagement, I had to send my ring in to be resized because it was a little too big. My [mother-in-law] asked me where my ring was, and I said it was being resized because it was half a size too big. She said, ‘Why make it smaller! You’ll get fatter anyways, and it’ll fit fine!’” — penguin444 on Reddit

“My husband got an angry email from my [mother-in-law] because we fed our 13-year-old kid salad.

The email reads, ‘Zackary is now a 13-year-old, which means he is on the edge of being a young man, a real young man, no longer a child. I saw on Facebook how he was ‘forced’ to eat lettuce... He has been made to eat things he hasn’t wanted to eat for at least the last five years of his life... As his father, I ask you to look at this from a different perspective, from the point of view that he is growing up and this could be causing him harm. I’m sure being ‘forced’ to eat lettuce has caused a lot of anger and rage in his heart...’” — jylcjb on BuzzFeed

“My first husband (back when he was my boyfriend) and I were given contracts by his mother spelling out the financial benefits of us breaking up. If we would agree to break up and sign the contracts, he would get his college paid for and a new car and I would get $10,000. Even after we both refused, she actually came to the house we were sharing and explained that I was an unacceptable girlfriend for her son and offered me additional money and a new contract for $20,000. Yeah. She was my mother-in-law for nine years after that.” — nevertruly on Reddit

“The worst would have to be when I gave birth to my daughter and I was living with my in-laws at the time as hubby and I were building our home. 24 hours after giving birth, my mother-in-law says to me as I was admiring my beautiful new baby girl sleeping, ‘Don’t look at her, that’s enough! You’re not allowed to look at her!’ I knew this woman was nuts but not to this level. I was also told not to hold my baby and that I had bad milk.” — from Wedded Wonderland

“One weekend my daughter stayed at my mother-in-law’s for an overnight. She bought my daughter a rabbit without our permission or even telling us. We show up to pick up our kid, and there is a giant rabbit cage with a fluffy white bunny, munching on some hay.

She even bought the rabbit bedding and food to make it so we couldn’t turn it away because ‘we didn’t have supplies.’ We already have two dogs and very little room for a rabbit cage. But my kid was ecstatic. My husband is allergic. My mother-in-law knows this.

She’s a jerk.” — Sparkle__M0tion on Reddit

“I was at my aunt’s wedding. As she was walking down the aisle, a phone rang. It was her soon-to-be mother-in-law’s. It rang for a while while she fumbled through her purse. She finally got it out. And answered it. And talked. For a while. While my aunt was walking down the aisle.” — Anonymous on Reddit

“Found out we were expecting a month after I had arrived back in the US. She asks husband if he was sure it was his baby. Also comments ‘Wow, you guys got busy fast, didn’t you!" During pregnancy, she would rub/talk to my belly (after finding similar posts about this, it bothers me so much that I didn’t blatantly tell her not to touch me) even when I wasn’t showing. I would walk away, move seats, put my arms crossed over my stomach. Every kind of hint to get her to stop. Nothing worked. Every visit, it was ‘hello sweet baby!’ and hold her hands on me until he would kick (which he never did with her, haha).” — Anonymous on Reddit

“Not a real horror story, but when we called my wife’s parents to tell them we were engaged, she made a monotone sound like ‘aaaaeeaaaah aaaaeeaaahh aaaaeaaahh aaaaaeehhh’ — sounded like a goat. No congratulations or anything.

We had been together for nine years and they had pushed us to get married — this was no surprise to anyone. But despite my wife’s attempts to convince me otherwise, I was aware of some long-standing reservations she had about me and her daughter.

But you’ll be glad to know that, having not seen her in person between then and the wedding, when she arrived in town for the wedding, I was glad to greet her by saying, ‘aaaaeeaaaah aaaaeeaaahh aaaaeaaahh!’” — HungryLikeTheWolf99 on Reddit

“It’s more of an ongoing living nightmare than a story.

She moved in with us to downsize and because it made good financial sense but then blew her nest egg on HSN and cruises. She rearranges all the dishes in the cupboard, dishwasher, and all the food in the cabinets and pantry. She answers the house phone and refuses to pass it off. She downloads viruses on the computer.

She burns food all the time, stinking up the house and constantly setting off the smoke alarm. She clips her toenails in the living room. She parks her car in the driveway blocking the garage, so I have to ask her to move every morning.

It goes on and on.” — TotallyMadeUpStory on Reddit

“DH and I have been playing with an idea of taking a vacation near our wedding anniversary instead of the usual staying in and making dinner. I wanted to go to NYC and take him to a few of my favorite places since he had never been to NY. I mentioned that we were planning a trip to NYC for our anniversary and she said, ‘Well, we can’t go! We already planned a trip that weekend with our friends!” I awkwardly just look at her and laugh.

That’s the point, MIL. Why would you and FIL come on a wedding anniversary trip?” — SalmonRo on Reddit

“That was a quote from my MIL the last time we visited her while she was rubbing my pregnant belly like it was a goddamn crystal ball. My husband told her she should at least ask permission before groping my belly, and she comes out with this gem. I still don’t know if she was talking about me or my unborn daughter.” — ToastyToast1 on Reddit

“Every time I went to visit my in-laws I would buy some groceries for them, and I always added one dozen one-liter milk packs. Until this one time, she said to me, ‘Am I a cat that you always included milk in my groceries?’ I stopped visiting and buying groceries because for me my efforts were not being appreciated and I was the only one doing it out of five daughters-in-law.” — Phelglow on Quora

“I just can’t get over the fact that my mother interrupted my father/daughter dance, pushed me aside, and danced with my father to our song. Yes, they’re still married. No, the song was not over. Yes, everyone was standing around watching, some people FILMING, and everyone thought it was the most awkward and inappropriate thing to do. Everyone, including myself, thought that she was coming over to dance with ME...” — PintaLOL on Reddit

“I had a bride book her wedding at our venue and met with her and her fiancé and their two young children. They were lovely. A week later, I received a call from the mother of the groom and she was screaming, ‘My son is not marrying that w***e!’ Their wedding was postponed for a year, then another year, and they finally got married three years later and it was the worst wedding I have ever organized and worked.

The family was awful – our team had to endure b******g from all ends. As they arrived back from spa treatments, the mother-in-law came stomping into the foyer yelling, ‘She is a nightmare, she is not marrying MY son.’ The bride walked in silently crying and went up to her room. The mother-in-law took the bridal suite as her own and made the bride stay in a normal room (which is still nice but not a suite). She made the bride pay for our most expensive wines when the bride only drank moscato. The bride wasn’t a delight either, but the whole family was a trainwreck.” — from Wedded Wonderland

“My ex [mother-in-law] was the WORST! She would call me Heather or Rachel. My name is Amber. I was with her son for 6 years. She bought me a muumuu once for Christmas. Little did anyone know I was pregnant and rocked that thing ALL the time.

She called my son a mistake.

When I met her, she called me ‘exotic’ (I have dark brown hair, light blue eyes, and olive skin). Apparently, that meant I looked like a stripper.” — TX_ambrosia on Reddit

“Not me but a friend... She went wedding dress shopping with her mom, her younger sister, and a couple close friends. She found a dress that she absolutely loved, and her friends and sister all agreed that she looked wonderful in it. Her mom, however, was upset with the dress’ hemline. It wasn’t short or unorthodox or anything, it just didn’t ‘fall right.’ Long story short, she flipped out and kept insisting that ‘the Holy Spirit is telling me that dress isn’t right for you!!!!’ My friend and her sister are very religious, but even that was too much for them.” — annielovesbacon on Reddit

“I was over my ex’s place once (we had been together for two years by this point, and his mum just never liked me) and she knew I was staying for dinner. She made dinner and called out to everyone that it was ready. They all headed out while I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I came out, everyone was eating and there was no plate set for me. Before a word left my mouth, she said, ‘There is food in the freezer, and the pan is still hot. Go make yourself something.’ I certainly dodged a bullet. — from Wedded Wonderland

“One Thanksgiving, husband, son, mother-in-law, and I started playing Monopoly. In the middle of it, mother-in-law says she needs to do something. She doesn’t say what, but she just gets up and leaves the dining room. We figure she’s gone to the bathroom, so my son continues playing for her. Little did we know, she went and took a nap!

So we are playing for a few more hours, and then mother-in-law returns. She’s all, ‘What are you all doing?!’

Well, the fact that we continued to play for her while she disappeared for a couple hours peeved her off so much that she violently shook the board — sending all the cards, money, and pieces flying all over the dining room.

I think we were all speechless.” — Anonymous on Reddit

“When you get engaged, and the first thing she says is not ‘congratulations’ but turns to her son and says, ‘Now you have to look after your new mum as well.’ Since when was a marriage about the mothers! It was just to remind me that she’s not going anywhere… and P.S. my mum is perfectly capable of looking after herself!” — from Wedded Wonderland

“After making a big deal about knowing what my mother was going to wear so that she wouldn’t wear the same thing, we made sure to send pictures and descriptions of the dress my mother bought. My [mother-in-law] told us she was going to wear a purple dress. Great! My mom’s dress was navy with lace sleeves. Wedding day, and she is wearing a navy dress almost identical to my mom’s. ‘Lol, we look like twins.’” — cinder8887 on Reddit

“It’s a petty thing, but it drives me crazy still.

Any time she visits, she insists on doing the laundry. Laundry is personal to me, even if it’s dirty socks, jeans, or sweats. Let alone my underwear or husband’s boxers. But when I had to do laundry when she was here, I would give her a basket of black/blue/white socks for her to match up. Wow. it was like giving a kid a tub of Legos. She loved it. But she got no more of our clothes. I just could not handle her touching my personal items.” — magicalunbeefs on Reddit

“My mother-in-law is obsessed with having grandkids and is in complete denial that my husband and I aren’t planning on having any. Last time she visited, she stole one of my birth control pills, I guess thinking that I wouldn’t notice. And he’s not even her only kid! He’s just the only boy so his sister's kids wouldn’t matter. She recently said she’d pay me $30,000 to have a kid. I say raise it to $100,000 and get back to me.” — Bisexualdw on Reddit

“My husband and I went on holiday. We left his parents our key so they could feed the fish and water plants. We got back after a long flight and drive home at two in the morning. When we opened the front door, my jaw dropped. Our living room had been totally rearranged, Then I walked through to the kitchen/dining room. There was a new, hideous dining room table. Then I went to our bedroom. It too had been rearranged! I was livid.

So here we were, at 2:00 a.m., rearranging our whole house back to normal. That was not the worst part. I cannot stress enough when I say that we went on to find that EVERY SINGLE shelf, cupboard, and drawer in the house had been gone through and reorganized. It took days for me to put everything back.” — MrsMarik on Reddit

“My ex-mother-in-law really wanted her holiday traditions to take root in our home. Even though I was Jewish, she gifted me with a steady stream of craptastic Santa statuettes, tree ornaments, and Rudolph tea towels. When I asked why, she told me that it was ‘the woman’s job to make the home,’ adding that I shouldn’t mind the Christmas themes because ‘Santa wasn’t religious’ and ‘Besides, you’re not, like, a serious Jew.’” — Deborah on HuffPost

“We were newlyweds and in town visiting, we got married with some cheapo temporary rings because my husband got me a really beautiful and custom-made ring that was my dream and took some time to make. I had no idea when it was actually coming in the mail, he wanted to surprise me with it and couldn’t wait any longer. So he had it shipped to his parents’ house.

Well, I received the ring alright. An opened box, and my [mother-in-law] handing it to me instead of my husband... My husband was FURIOUS but stayed quiet. I just wanted to cry. And I solemnly received the box and said it was okay because I wasn’t even expecting the ring and took me a minute to process what actually happened.” — Connie on Reddit

“As [Covid] restrictions began to ease, his mother started calling over a lot, and it was from then I started to realize that she was not ready to see another woman take her place. She would make my husband dinner (at our house!), take his laundry home, and bring it back washed. Heck, one evening I even came back from work to see her sitting on the couch feet up with her dog on the seat next to her (she knows I’m allergic!)” — from Stellar

“Just after our marriage, when my husband was going for a bath, he asked for detergent to wash his clothes as he usually does. But my mother-in-law said, ‘You don’t need to wash your clothes anymore. Your wife is there; she will do it.’ I confronted her saying I will not until there is an emergency or he is not well enough to do so. SHE CREATED BIG DRAMA.” — Shinni Jain on Quora

“First wedding. We said we just wanted something small... no groomsmen, no bridesmaids, no flower girls, no ring bearers, etc... just family to watch us take vows. My mother-in-law went behind our backs and secretly invited a very large number of people including old school friends of mine that she didn’t even know. This was before social media, so tracking them down took actual effort. I walked into something I thought would be deeply personal and intimate and immediately realized that we were now going to be the center of attention for a crowd. We hadn’t intended on having that type of wedding, so we didn’t even have a traditional reception planned, which made us look like terrible hosts.” — HoneyPiSquared on Reddit

“I had problems with bridesmaids fighting with each other at the bar for my bachelorette, a gazillion issues with my mother. Seriously screaming at me on the phone for so much stuff. But the kicker was the night before the wedding. Rehearsal get-together at my parents’ house. My [mother-in-law] pulled me aside and told me she hoped it would pour rain the next day (outdoor wedding), that I have to learn my manners and put my husband before myself (which I always do, seriously, people think it’s abusive). She pulled my husband into a guest room, gave him an envelope full of cash, and told him not to tell me. Which he did immediately afterwards. There was $4k [in] that envelope.

The only person who made my wedding tolerable was my father. Who, during the issues with bridesmaids told me he’d be my maid of honor and the night before told my husband if he wanted he’d put a ladder to the room window I was staying at so we could run off and elope.” — ALighterShadeOfPale on Reddit

“I’m engaged, and my future husband has been married before which is making my soon-to-be [mother-in-law] super nervy. Anytime we’re over at her house and openly chatting about our wedding plans, she interjects and tries to change my mind on certain ideas because he ‘did that before and it didn’t work out.’ From the wedding size to cake fillings, florist to our honeymoon – she suggests he doesn’t pick a beach destination – again! She is totally ruining my excitement and making me feel like I’m ‘wife number two’ rather than the woman of his dreams, which I deserve to be!” — from Stellar

“My mother-in-law made a statement when her son and I were discussing if we were ready to get engaged that she had better like the woman her son is married to, or she will make that female’s life a living hell. We got engaged a few months after that, and she has succeeded at her initial threat.

She started off our marriage by making sure she was the center of attention. Think of the Jennifer Lopez-Jane Fonda movie Monster-In-Law. I swear they made parts of that movie about us. My mother-in-law refused to wear lavender (our main wedding color) or floral to our service. Instead, she showed up in an ankle-length white prom-style dress with a complete up-do. She insisted on telling everyone who would listen that she paid for the majority of our wedding. Sadly that was not the case, as my husband and I scrimped and saved for an entire year to pay for our very low-key event.

For our honeymoon, we had decided that we were going to go to Las Vegas and stay in a beautiful suite overlooking Las Vegas Blvd. Imagine my surprise when we are checking into our hotel and run into my new mother-in-law. Apparently she ‘just needed to get away’ after all of the stress of ‘planning a wedding.’” — Bailey C. Lawson on Quora

“My step-[mother-in-law] made me cry within the first five minutes of meeting her by instantly challenging me on why our parents were not listed on the wedding announcement. Short answer: both of us have divorced/remarried parents... for a total of eight parents. We kind of wanted OUR names to be the memorable thing on the announcement, not the list of people at the top. Secondly, we are in our 30s and paid for our own wedding, so it’s not like they threw the party. It’s not hideous, but it set the tone for our relationship, and I’ve been terrified of her since that first ‘chat.’” — MonsteraDeliciosa on Reddit

“Divorced now, but when I was married, my parents-in-law offered (as a gift) to pay for me to have a vasectomy. At the time, I wasn’t planning on getting one, and neither my then-wife nor I had breathed one word to them about our future plans to have kids or not have kids. My ex-mother-in-law kept trying to set my (now ex) wife up on dates with guys from her old neighborhood who she went to high school with.” — Anonymous on Reddit

“My former mother-in-law (whom I do love, and love legitimately far more than I like my former husband) was, when we all first met, incredibly narcissistic. The night of our rehearsal dinner, she stood up and said that she wanted to say something (we all assumed she was making a toast). What she actually wanted to do was tell us all that on the Wednesday following our wedding, SHE was getting married (none of us knew she was even dating anyone). Then, at our wedding the next day, she wore her wedding dress - a white miniskirt suit. Several of the wedding pictures are somewhat confusing if one didn’t know all of the parties involved.” — esk_209 on Reddit

“I am divorced now, but my ex-[mother-in-law] was a strange bird. For starters, the ex-in-laws liked shopping for gifts months or even years in advance - such that for the first several holidays with my ex, I received gifts that they had picked out for his ex-girlfriend. It didn’t go so far as to have her name on the items, but they were very clearly intended for her with her favorite colors and motifs (stars and moons) all over everything. I guess they assumed the items were generic enough that I wouldn’t know, and maybe it was my ex’s fault for telling me so much about his ex-girlfriend, but I knew these were leftover gifts from his last relationship!” — FlanneryOClowder on Reddit