I like my mother-in-law because it's rather like watching a Lucille Ball episode. She is a little wacky, a lot illogical, and the mother of my oh-so-wonderful husband. My father-in-law passed away several years ago. I liked him all right, but I have never met a colder man. I always wondered how my husband could have been fathered by Mr. Frigid-Rigid. Perhaps there is something we don't know?

LOL Marlingardener!

My father-in-law was uber-cold, too, but he died before I married his son. I learned later that he never liked me, so I suppose there was enormous potential for problems there. But my mother-in-law thought I was great, and the feeling was mutual. I had a lot of fun with her and her second husband, who was not in the least bit cold.

When we all lived in Manhattan we had lots of dinners out, visits to the theater and the symphony, and a weekly bridge night. When they moved to Arizona, I missed them.

My MIL was a drunk. No, we were not friendly...she despised me, even tho I & DH supported her financially after her husband left her.

Loved my FIL and his wife, we got along great.

When DH died, I asked his brother to help with funeral luncheon arrangements at our country club (we all belonged there). I specifically told him "cash bar".
When the luncheon was over, and the manager gave me the bill, there was a bar tab for over $1,000. I asked BIL what happened...and he replied that HE ordered it put on my tab because HE would be embarrassed if drinks for his friends weren't free. Needless to say, he refused to pay.

Good riddance to them all.

I loved my MIL and FIL!
Love my SIL's. DD #1 lost her husband 2 1/2 years ago. So now I only have one DSIL and I think he's great, I TRY not to meddle and mind my own business, not sure what he thinks of us! My DH can be rather excitable and opinionated. LOL
This brings a subject that made my heartache last week for my sister tho. Be prepared for a long story here...
Her only son married almost a year ago. They have a almost 6 month old little girl. My sister was so excited about her and loves this little gal dearly. The evening after the birth she went to visit, her DIL wasn't even going to let Gramma hold the baby!! Daddy had to tell her let Mom hold her! DIL had been a witch to her Mothers best friend telling her she wasn't allowed to visit when she made the 45 minute drive to visit. Also told the Daddy's good friend to stay away, because she didn't like his GF and didn't want them into the hospital. She then told the baby's Daddy she was going to her mothers when released. She said she wasn't taking baby to a place that wasn't their home (they were living in a rental house at the time!)They stayed with her parents 26 miles away for 10 days! My nephew was driving everyday twice a day to work and finally between him and her Mother convinced her this was silly when they are renting a perfectly fine house.
I shrugged it off as hormornes. At some point she was put on anti depressants. I talked to her Mother once and she told me how when this girl was young they thought she is bipolar or something.
Her DIL has very little to do with my sister, everything is pretty much her mother and step father. That is where they go on weekends and holidays. Last week my sister told her DS she was going to make his favorite soup one day. She told them she'd send a bowl full over for them. She got it done, sent a text to the wife soup is done, I'll bring some over. the DIL (from hell IMO)texted her back I've already got something planned for supper. (it was supper time) My sister then texted her back and said I thought you might but I will run it over later tonight and you can have soup for lunch tomorrow or another day. Her DIl sent her another...we are busy tonight!! Okkkkkkkkk Sister wasn't planning on doing more than dropping it off. Then right away she sent another text to my sister ....you pi$$ed me off the other night when you said that to baby Jane, you don't talk to her like that. Then immediately sent another text saying just stay away from me and baby Jane! My sister is sitting there thinking what the heck did I do?? Then she remembered picking up the baby and talking to her, my sister has long hair and it wasn't tied back, baby did as all babies do, reached up and grabbed a handful of hair. My sister just said (in a baby voice) no, no don't you grab my hair. DIL came over, didn't say a word and took the baby from her! So there is my sister sitting at home, crying for hours! She doesn't know if her son even knows about these texts.

Good lord, I'd like to tell that girl grow up and put on your big girl panties! For petes sake, now she won't let the baby see her Gramma!

There have been several other things this DIL has done that haven't involved my sister and I know my son said she is off her rocker! For instance telling my nephew he isn't allowed to be in his friends wedding because he will be walking down the aisle with another girl?!

Sorry for the rant CB but this has been bothering me and I feel awful for my sister. I know there are bad MIL's but my sister has never done anything or even said anything to this girl to cause this!

My MIL & FIL were great...they were both much older than my parents so they weren't so much hands on grandparents. My MIL was a truely wonderful women. FIL rarely called me by MY name....Dean's first wife was Cindy...Cindy & Sandy were close! LOL I would always laugh about it.

Now sibling inlaws...that is kinda a different story. So many of them that have their 'quirks' and we just don't socialize with some of them anymore....been bit once too many times. I probably get along with Dean's sister more than any of the others....she says it the way it is, there is no wondering what she thinks.....I LOVE her! lol

Mother and Father in law are both gone and I got along well with them. No one in the family gets along with my husband's sister, but we get along well with his brother and family.

Sue

My MIL & FIL are both gone. My MIL was a prescription drug addict and she ran the show in their home. She only had one grandchild and it wasn't either one of our children. My children have no good remembrances of them. They made my life miserable. We have nothing to do with my BIL & SIL as they only associate with you when they want something.

This sounds very harsh, but I know how they treated my family.

I had a very nice FIL until he died. MIL wasn't as nice, she was very passive-aggressive and would be nice to my face but behind my back she did everything she could to destroy my marriage to her son. (When you live in a small town, you should be more careful to whom you talk, lol.)

If you didn't do something her way, you were mean and evil. If you didn't kow-tow to her every whim, you were hateful. If you didn't take her shopping every Wednesday or call her everyday, she was neglected. She told people I refused to take care of Woody when he was going blind and that's why she moved back to the state. (He didn't go blind, he did have an eye injury, but there wasn't anything anyone could do for him, except for his opthamologist. He never missed a day of work, that's how minor it was.) She told people I picked up strange men downtown. (That's a riot, this town has the highest gay population of almost any town, it would have been more believable if she'd said I'd picked up women. rofl) She told Woody I ordered her to make pies for my Thanksgiving dinner but that she wasn't invited. OK, I didn't MAIL her an engraved invitation, but the plan was for her to bring a pie to dinner, just like every other year. She exaggerated everything to make me look bad and her look abused and pathetic. She told her friends that she couldn't make plans with them because she had to take Woody to the doctor as he had kidney disease and I wouldn't do it. (Her friends were shocked to see me at the doctor's office WITH Woody a few days earlier than MIL had told them the appt was, and that Woody wasn't dying, he had a slipped disk in his back.) Now, that was a funny day, let me tell you! Nothing like finding all this out from her super-chatty friend at the doctor's office, that was an enlightening hour for me and Woody. He told her he didn't appreciate her telling lies about his health to her friends.

He spent every single day off at his mother's house, doing her chores and eating with her because she still loved to cook. He took her everywhere she wanted to go and spent more time there than at home. I got to where I hated to ask him to do anything here because he was so overworked so if I couldn't do it, it just didn't get done. After she died, he spent about 2 years playing catch-up around here.

The day she called Woody a b@st@rd over the phone as she was hanging up, was the day his eyes were opened wide. And he lit into her (SIL was there, she was a witness) at 10:30 at night after driving over after the phone fiasco and finally, FINALLY told her to lay off of me, that nothing she said or did would break us up, period, that I was a great wife to him and for him and that he wouldn't stand for her badmouthing me anymore. (I wouldn't have left him even if I wanted to by that point, I wouldn't have given her the satisfaction.) Anyway, SIL called and told me exactly what happened and then Woody got home and told me the same thing, so I know it's all true and SIL told me I would have been proud of him, as SIL knew what was going on with her own mother and had tried to stop it all but couldn't.

OK, sorry to go on and on, Bump, but you're really lucky you got a great MIL, they are rare I think. Woody got one, though! My mum is the best MIL he could hope for, she worships him!

My MIL and FIL were fine. As a matter of fact, FIL was one of my father's best friends (they actually 'introduced' DH and I when we were 4 weeks old).

However, DH's siblings aren't worth 2 cents, the lot of them. As soon as FIL died, they managed to get POA over MIL's money, and started helping themselves to it. We--being super honest ourselves--didn't catch on until they'd spent over a QUARTER OF A MILLION $$$$. Mind you, MIL had Alzheimers, was still living home in a house that had NO mortgage, they didn't have hired help to care for her, and they weren't taking her to the dr's or buying her meds so she had very little in expenses. They were so adament about taking care of her, we assumed they were taking GOOD care of MIL. It took us years of fighting in court, and cost over $20,000 (and counting) for legal and forensic accounting fees, to stop the hemmoraging of money. The court was appalled. The forensic accountant who worked on the case said it was one of the 2 worst he'd ever seen. They were eventually required to pay back a pittance of what they stole, but it was a drop in the bucket. The big win (in our opinion) was that we got a highly ethical lawyer appointed as MIL's financial guardian, so they no longer had access to their slush fund. Sadly, there were THREE siblings who participated in the theft, and had their fingers in the till. We wouldn't even accept the return of our legal fees (which, by law, we were entitled to), because the money would have come from what little was left for MIL's end care. Not patting myself on the back, there, just trying to explain the huge ethical chasm that exists between the outlaws and us.

None of us (DH, DD, nor I) consider those people relatives of ours any more. They apparently don't consider us family, either, because they didn't even bother to let us know when MIL died.

They're just horrible people--and they're the kind who go around, putting on a false face (always in church, talking about the 'good' they do for others), while they're looking around for their next victim. We've seen, in the past, how they were trying to weasel in with other older people--I can't say whether they stole from them or not, but if I heard they did, I wouldn't bat an eyelash.

When I was first married it was difficult but we met in the
middle somewhere along the line and got along. My FIL passed away and MIL just had her 88th birthday and looking
forward to her 100th. She is in a nursing home now but visit her often.

Never had any. Jody's mother died when he was 6 and his father died when he was 12. Probably wouldn't have liked me anyway. I have BILs and SILs and they think I'm weird. Whoooo??? Meeee??????

I had the best MIL and FIL in the world...DH's dad passed away in 1975 and he was a great friend...His DM passed away just a couple of years ago at the age of 99...We lived right next door to her and never once did she and I have a cross word..She was a wonderful person, didn't intrude but was always there if you needed her...All my kids are married and have great spouses...So far so good! I'm very blessed

My FIL was wonderful and I loved him dearly. MIL was a different thing. She was a real pill. It was all about her. I got along with her because she was my hubby's mother. I would have never caused problems. She was the grandmother of our children and I respected that. Our children loved her. She didn't have any friends and was not liked by many. So sad.. She always thought people were jealous of her. I never did figure this out.

I work real hard at being a great Mother-In-law. I let my kids live their own lives and help when needed.. We have a terrific relationship.

Susie

Loved Twinkie's mom dearly. She passed away in November of '99 and I think about her everyday. His dad died before I ever met him. His mom and I weren't just inlaws, we were friends, too.

I'm also still emotionally close to my exMIL. We had each other for 20 years and I was her first DIL.

I've been very lucky in the MIL department. I sure know of some HORROR stories! LOL

My in-laws are not horrible, but they aren't wonderful either. We are not close to them. They can be difficult to get along with, especially MIL. It's just impossible to know what will please them, but it seems like nothing we do. I had a planter delivered to them a few days before Christmas. I always choose plants b/c I know MIL would resent flowers that would die and be thrown away. I ended up visiting them in FL with my kids (DH didn't go) the week after Christmas. MIL asked me to take the planter with me and give it to "someone who likes it," as it was not to her taste. OK. I will not sent one agan, you can bet. One year early in our marriage I was with MIL when she admired stitching on a sweater in a native American theme. I bought a sweater and spent months cross-stitching a similar design on it as a Christmas gift. I never saw her wear it, but didn't give that a thought. Until she asked me to take a box of clothes to donate and that sweater was in there. That was a bit of a slap. From now on, I won't even be sending plants. I don't expect her to love everything I ever give her, but she could at least keep her distaste to herself.

They spend 6 mos in FL, 6 in OH, and drive within 15 miles of our house to get from one to the other. They do not stop to see us on the route, not even the year that drive fell on their son's 40th birthday. Not even when we tell them their grandkids have ball games or other activities that most grandparents would want to watch. They drive on by. I can blow it off, but it hurts DH that they want so little to do with him or his kids.

Though one summer MIL asked if our oldest 2 boys could visit them for a week in summer. We agreed, surprised but thinking it was a good thing. SIL told us later that MIL was telling people she *had* to take them b/c I could not handle all my kids and asked for help. The boys came home saying "I don't think grandma likes you." Now, what did she say/do to give children the impression that she doesn't like their mother?

I don't think she's evil or even bad. But I do think she has no idea how to have a healthy relationship with other people. Sometimes it seems like she goes out of her way to sabatage her OWN relationships with people she "loves." It's hard to trust her.

I get along fine and they are good people but we think almost totally different.
I dislike to cook, really don't find it interesting but I cook for my family and have taught dh (and ds) to fend for himself in the kitchen. If it's not planting or harvest season, he will cook meals more often. He cooks pretty plain but I don't complain. Well, I am quite sure my MIL sees no reason for her son to be cooking ever. But she holds her tongue, thank goodness. If nether one of us wants to cook then somebody is going to have to do it! If that means he does it now and then,,so be it. LOL, the first time he started doing dishes after a holiday gathering I thought she was going to hyperventilate!! A MAN IN THE KITCHEN,,omg! I can just hear her thinking right out of her eyeballs. I don't know what kind of problem she has about men but she doesn't give them credit for being smart enough in the kitchen. Obviously she hasn't watched HGTV before or she might stress out watching all those chefs cook. Yea, I know she is prejudiced but I like her anyway.
She is Edith Bunker, always swirling around her Archie as though he is usless in the house. That's one mistake I don't plan on making.;)

I loved my MIL. She was the sweetest lady. The first time we met she told me she loved me. Most of the other in-laws were nice also except for SIL who lived in the same town as us and meddled all the time. The karma came back to her--their DD is in her late 30s with no marriage prospects and their DS is a recovering heroin addict with Hepatitis C. He got addicted while attending University of Oregon.

My FIL & MIL are both gone for many years, and I still miss them. She really loved all her GK and never played favorites. Don't really miss my mom the same was because of so many reasons. She was quite jealous of DH's side of the family. We use to visit alot more when we lived in CA, but as the inlaws got older visted less. No real dislike, but several seem have issues. I just try to be postive, but vocal, boy am I vocal!!!
I really miss one SIL, but then I always got along with my kids inlaws. Had a blast with several, and really enjoyed the get togethers.

I have the MIL from H$!!

She detests me and would do anything possible to get rid of me. She insults and berates me constantly; moans over the loss of the legions of "suitable" women that would have made her son a "proper" wife, and generally tries to make me miserable. There's many good reasons I refuse to live anywhere near her.

I don't really know much about the other in-laws, since she "hates" them too and gets very upset if her son shows any interest in them, or anyone else besides her.

I do have an email friendship with one of her brothers, and she has a third cousin about my age that I think if the situation were different we'd be friends.

I have a polite-on-the-surface relationship with my ILs but no more than that. DH's family is very strange - they are extremely close yet they are all constantly talking about each other. I'm not an idiot - if they are bad mouthing each other and bad mouthing others, can I really think I'm not getting the same treatment behind their backs? So I don't make waves and I have no problem being around them or helping out when necessary but I'll never warm up to them. They have a lot of family drama that I do my best not to get involved with.

FIL was deceased before I ever knew my husband, but I LOVED my wonderful MIL and my hubby loved both of my parents. I LOVE our son-in-law too....couldn't ask for a better husband for our daughter.

When I had in-laws,I got along marvelously with the (now deceased) FIL,and the (still living) MIL...as far as the siblings go,they were all jerks..a poor excuse for humans in my world.

During my first marriage, I got along better with my MIL than I did my husband. LOL Now with my husbands family, I got along really well with both my MIL and FIL while they were living. I now get along extremely well with my SIL and Stepson and DIL. There is a lot of love to go around and it does go around.

Helen

My MIL was an irritator to me all her life. Little things, like bringing extra food to a party I was having, to big things like refusing to come to our wedding because we didn't get married in a Catholic church. Hey, that was DH's fault, he was the one who was married before and divorced. Now that she's gone, I do miss her and I'm sorry we didn't get along. Even her two daughters (my SILs) knew there was bad blood between us.

I got along with my MIL and FIL because they were accomodating. I had the most issues with my mother, but that was manageable since she lived 400 miles away. My father-in-law was a minister and he performed our wedding ceremony - you can't get better than than that! We also spent a few vacations with them at their cabin in Canada - fished, swam, listened to the loons, picked wild blue berries, looked at gorgeous sussets, and played cards when it rained.

"The karma came back to her--their DD is in her late 30s with no marriage prospects and their DS is a recovering heroin addict with Hepatitis C."

Geez - this sounds very cruel to me. So at almost 46 and unmarried - I must be AWFUL!

Mine were really nice, but both are dead now.

I also do get along with my daughters inlaws. Really nice folks. :)

Moni

>>"The karma came back to her--their DD is in her late 30s with no marriage prospects and their DS is a recovering heroin addict with Hepatitis C."
>>Geez - this sounds very cruel to me. So at almost 46 and unmarried - I must be AWFUL!

Haha! I thought the same thing, mimi_boo! Gee - I must be a real disaster. I thought it laughingly, though, as I'm sure she didn't mean it the way it sounded. :-)

Suzieque

I got along good with fil. He loved being a grandfather and we spent a lot of time together after I had the kids. He died three years ago.

I could do without mil and sil. At first I just thought we were different personalities and didn't have much in common. Mil is turning into a recluse with a bunch of cats and sil's goal in life is to be nouveau riche and party all the time. After I discovered they had been bad mouthing me behind my back and a couple of other nasty stunts, I realized I had been sacrificing too much in putting up with them. I've quit accomodating their every little whim.

well all my in laws are outlaws lol! my mil who passed 2 years ago was the best and i mean the salt of the earth kind of person. i miss her every day! we did always agree on her son thoiugh she could see his flaws made no excuses i love her for that! she was also a nurse where i used to work many years before i met her son..maybe thats why i respected her tremendously too. she was a great nurse a terriffic lady and nothing like my first 2 mil who were catty and babied their babies to the point of interference..but henry my mil i will never forget i loved her dearly!!!!!

My in-laws were total idiots!

Losing them was the best part of my divorce and I pretty much told them so, too!

My nieces and nephews on my husbands side I do not consider in-laws. They lived at our house alot, when they were growing up. Almost every weekend. We live out in the country and have plenty of place for children to play and just be a kid. Now their mom and dads well, that is a whole different can of worms. teehee. But, I figure eventually everything comes out in the wash, anyways. Don't worry about what you can't change anyway. I am not their problem, they are their problem. LOL

I loved my FIL very much. When he passed away, I think I probably took it the hardest. He was so much fun, he was good to me and loved teaching me new things.

My MIL? Well, uh, let's just say that if she didn't live with us, I might just like her...a little bit. Maybe. When DH and I got together, she informed me that her son didn't deserve me, my experience or my boys. That hit me to the bone. I have never and never will forgive her for that.

Now, she lives with us. She doesn't have to pay a single dime for anything, other than her medication, which she gets most of at a discount. We pay the car payment, the insurance, we put the roof over her head, we feed her, we pay for the laundry items, the power, water, etc. Everything, we pay for. How does she re-pay us? She sits at her computer all day long, playing games. She never showers. She never wears her dentures. She is nasty. Hints don't work. Out and out telling her doesn't work. So I have given up. She wonders why I won't let her cook anything that I plan on eating. I won't eat a single thing that she may have touched. She sleeps with her dog and her now cat (he was mine, but she has taken him over) and always has hair all over her. She smokes and smells like the bottom of an ashtray, because she doesn't shower. The smell is in her clothes...her bed...her carpet. I won't let her leave her bedroom door open because then my house would stink. She puts her dog's food right on the carpet, so there is an oily stain in the carpet. I can go on and on...but I think you have the idea.

**eye twitching**

**biting tongue very hard and making gurgling noises**

Let's leave it at that ;)

DH never got along, with his own abusive father. So, I kept my distance, too.
MIL was a sweetheart.

MIL died within a few years of our marriage. Got along with her fine, although with things I have found out in the years since, I probably would have had it out with her. Husband's father (will not use any terms linking him to me) was - I cannot think of a word I can post here. When I received the call he died and woke my husband to tell him, my husband's response was to open one eye and say, "he never did treat you right" and then go back to sleep. The oldest grandchildren (including mine) did not go to his funeral. My BIL's and their wives are great. My SisIL is so into herself that we will never bridge that gap. We are cordial. I am sure she feels the same about me.