How My Son Was Taken Away by His Mother-in-Law
Ever since our son got married, he hardly ever visits us anymore. He always seems to be at his mother-in-law’s house, and theres always something needing his urgent attention over there. Sometimes I wonder how she managed before her daughter married our son.
Our son has now been married for over two years. After the wedding, the newlyweds moved into a flat we bought for our son when he started university. Growing up, he always had our full support and understanding. Even before the wedding, he lived on his own since his flat was not far from work.
Its not that I disliked my daughter-in-law, but I couldnt help thinking she was a bit too immature for married life, even though our son is only two years her senior. She was often like a child, even throwing the odd tantrum. Our son has always been so gentle and caring, and I kept worrying about how hed get on with someone so young at heart.
But after spending time with her and her mother, I came to see who they were. Although my sons mother-in-law is the same age as me, she still behaves childishly at times. Maybe youve met someone who, despite their age, behaves like a youngster? Some people just never really grow up and always need looking after. By the time her daughter got married, shed already been divorced six times.
We never had much to talk about because she lived in her own world, but she never bothered us. Our interactions were polite and limited to politely congratulating each other on the childrens marriage, and that was about it.
The warning signs appeared even before the wedding. My daughter-in-law was always dragging our son to her mothers house a leaky tap here, a blown fuse there, or a shelf fallen off in the kitchen. At first, I looked the other way after all, perhaps its hard for a household with no man about.
But as time passed, the number of mishaps in her mothers house didnt decrease. Our son started ignoring us, always explaining that he and his wife were off to help her mum. Soon, all holidays started being celebrated at her mothers, while at ours it was just me, my father, and my mother-in-law for company.
It was one thing for our son to stop coming for family occasions, but it was another altogether when he began ignoring our requests for help.
One time we bought a new fridge and asked our son to help move it in. He agreed at first, but later called to say he couldnt come he and his wife were off to fix his mother-in-laws washing machine.
When my husband called our son, you could hear our daughter-in-law in the background saying, Cant your parents hire a removal team? Our son did turn up eventually, but he was as grumpy as anything.
Dad, couldnt you have just called someone? Now Ive got to lug this thing in!
My patience snapped. Why couldnt his mother-in-law get a professional? Does she live in some fantasy land where skilled tradesmen dont exist? My son insisted his mother-in-law needed help, saying that these days people frequently get cheated, they take your money and do a poor job.
At this point, my husband lost his temper and muttered that while our sons mother-in-law might be clueless about household appliances, shes certainly clever enough at leading one sheep around! Well, our son got annoyed with his father and stormed off. I kept quiet because, in all honesty, I thought my husband was right the new in-laws were constantly leaning on our son. Hes always over there playing handyman, while hes forgotten the way to our door and says he has no time to visit us.
Since that row, our son hasnt spoken to his father for more than two weeks. My husband refuses to make the first move towards reconciliation. I feel completely torn its true my husband had a point, but he couldve said it more gently. Now our sons upset and wants nothing to do with him, and I dont want to lose my child over such nonsense!
My husband still wont get in touch with our son, and our son is just as stubborn, saying he wont speak to his father until he gets an apology. In all this, only the mother-in-law seems to have everything working out for her!
Sometimes, life teaches us that holding onto pride can hurt the people we care about most. Its better to work towards understanding and balance, rather than letting stubbornness build walls between those we love.
