Mothers-in-Law Who Took Family Tensions to the Extreme

Our in-laws become part of the family, and we often hope for close, loving relationships with them. Unfortunately, that’s not always the reality.

In this collection, we dive into some jaw-dropping and even bizarre stories about mothers-in-law—situations so unbelievable, you’d think they were scripted for TV.

But believe it or not, these are all real-life events.

My husband and I had been saving up to go on a trip. His mom was crying about how much in debt she was, so, we postponed it to help her.

Days later, she showed me this big porcelain cat.

I murmured, “Must have cost a fortune.” She patted me on the shoulder and said, “Well, my son had confessed to me that he didn’t really want to go on that trip!”

I was speechless. Later that night, I confronted my husband. He froze in shock and swore that he was looking forward to the trip as much as I was, and that his mom has a habit of making up things and speaking for him.

That day, I learned to keep my distance from her, because her lies could end up destroying my relationship.

My husband always told me he preferred his mom’s cooking to mine and kept insisting I should ask her for recipes.

I finally gave in and called my MIL. She was unusually cheerful, eager to share her “special recipes.” I made one of her dishes for dinner, feeling hopeful. But when my husband tried it, he spit it out and said it tasted horrible.

The next day, I mentioned it to my sister-in-law, who burst out laughing.

“Mom always does that,” she said.

“She gives fake recipes so no one outshines her.” Furious, I confronted my mother-in-law, but she just smiled sweetly and said, “You must have made a mistake.” I wanted to scream.

My husband, of course, refused to believe his mom could do such a thing.

My mother-in-law posted the picture we were going to use for the pregnancy announcement cards on Facebook before we even had a chance to tell some close family members.

After we asked her never to do that again, she announced the baby’s gender on Facebook. © kickslacedandready / Reddit

My boyfriend’s mom and dad helped us move into our new place, and she put all of my boyfriend’s stuff (clothes, books, etc.) in one bedroom and all of mine in another.

Then, genuinely confused, she asked why we had only brought one bed in the moving truck and if we had ordered another one for him.