Does anyone actually like their in-laws?

[Anonymous]

I love my in-laws. They don't live too far, so we visit them often, often at my instigation and I always love seeing them. I am almost as close to them as I am to my own parents - they are lovely, loving, treat me excellently and are awesome grandparents to our DC.

[Anonymous]

Yes, love my parents-in-law and all my spouse's siblings. Really fun and sweet people who adore our children and have been a great support to us emotionally during hard times.

[Anonymous]

i have 4 in laws and like three of them:
MIL: a little anxiety prone but a wonderful smart woman
SFIL (her husband): My favorite. Like the dad I never had. Gives great career advice.
FIL: My favorite to have fun with. We are drinking buddies and he buys me expensive gifts. I know how that sounds and it's not like that. He only had one child but is a giver. I call him Dad.
ESMIL (evil step MIL, his wife). I have nothing good to say about her. Nothing. I am actually a little scared of her. I think she might be a sociopath.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Not even remotely. They retired to Florida. They have been to our home twice in the past decade. My wife's sister who lives in Ohio- they have come to visit them about the same number. Both my wife and her sister have said repeatedly they are always welcome, I don't think I've ever said or done anything to indicate otherwise. My wife's other sister is clearly the favorite, always has been, I guess. Her husband makes way more money than us or the other sibling and unfortnately, my ILs are at the well-to-do child's home every other month, even though it means essentially the same plane ticket to see any of us.

And yes, we've gone to visit my ILs. But the favorite sister gets first choice of when to visit so all holidays and school breaks are off limits for us. So that leaves summer in Florida which we did annually until things got to a breaking point for my wife. My wife asked her parents to come visit for her 40th birthday. The trip would allow them to see a gymnastics competition for our daughter and a couple of sporting events for our son. They couldn't make it because they already had plans to be with the other sister's family. But they were nice enough to send a gift and included a wonderful photo of FIL, MIL, and the other sister's family. Whether they intended it or not, it hurt my wife more than they ever will possibly know.

Its unfortunate but I think my ILs are in love with my wealthy BILs mansion, Lexus, and country club lifestyle. As a result, they have a very close relationship with one daughter and know everything about her kids. Yet, they haven't seen my kids or my SIL's in three years. My son will be going to college in two years and it is very possible he may not see them again until somebody's funeral. And even then, I'm not sure I'd force him to go.

[Anonymous]

I love my in laws. They are far enough away (5hr drive) that we don't see them all the time, but close enough to help when needed. They have excellent boundaries and are very supportive of decisions my husband and I make. My MIL had her MIL make a lot of nasty comments to her, judge her choices, and do things like feed her 8w old baby solids and later take him for his first hair cut without asking - so she's been nothing but wonderful and loving to me. Sometimes I like her more than my own mom.

[Anonymous]

I adore my inlaws. I wish they lived closer to us, but even though they are in Boston, they visit frequently and have watched our toddler when we wanted to attend a friend's wedding. I get along really well with my mother in law, and my toddler will follow his PopPop to the ends of the earth. I actually wish my own family was this invested in my toddler.

[Anonymous]

Not a fan, and even less of a fan since we had a kid. They have extended their poor treatment of me to our kid because our kid is not the gender they would have preferred. They also have no grasp on reality for age-appropriate behavior and are constantly shushing our kid or recommending that we take our child out of the house so they can read and play on their devices in silence.

They create a ton of work on each visit, are petulant and demanding, nothing about us/our house/our jobs/our kid is ever good enough for them and they complain constantly. They also routinely break things when they visit and never offer to replace the items, even when it's something as big as a tv that they pulled out of the wall by hanging clothes and towels on.

[Anonymous]

My in-laws are very sweet people. They get on my nerves sometimes for various reasons, but I know that they are loving, supportive, and work very hard to make me feel welcome. They adore their granddaughter. They are not malicious--even the annoying stuff comes from a good place. Honestly, if they lived in the same city, I think I'd have issues with them, but they live just far enough away that the irritants are manageable and visits are nice.

[Anonymous]

Hate them. If I had known them better before the wedding, I would have married a different guy.

[Anonymous]

I love them!

They are more supportive and engaged than my own parents.

[Anonymous]

I like mine a lot and there are a lot of aspects of visiting them that are much more relaxing and enjoyable than visiting my own family but there are also things that drive me crazy. That doesn't mean I don't like them though - isn't family supposed to drive you crazy, just a little bit?

I absolutely love my SIL and hope we can live closer together one day.

[Anonymous]

I cannot stand my MIL. She's a very cold person. When she met our newborn DD for the first time at 6 weeks, she said she wouldn't change a single diaper. We never made that request of her. Btw how much does a 6 week old pee at that point?

When I visited them before we got married, they refused to turn the heat up in the cold MA winter. I was put in DH's childhood bedroom which is connected to the attic and has absolutely no insulation. I grew up in upstate NY, but even with my long johns and ski jacket on, i literally cried b/c I was so cold. Fast forward 9 years later and they kept the house at 60 in the winter when we took our DD who had just turned 2 to their house. B/c she kicks off the covers, I was absolutely livid at DH for putting her to bed w/o her fleece sleep sack and they still keep the house at an extremely cold temp.

She invited her extended relatives over for a get together that we were having w/ local relatives of DH at our house w/o asking me and then she didn't lift a finger to help as DH and I were running around after 24 guests.

[Anonymous]

My MIL is an angel. I hit the frickin' lottery.

[Anonymous]

Nope not at all! Not even the slightest. I tried but they have had it out for me from the day we met. It's been eight years and I want a divorce because I want off of the crazy train.

[Anonymous]

I liked my ex-MIL and still enjoy interacting with her. Her life is a living hell with my ex-FIL and ex-DH so I try to see if I can put a smile on her face as often as possible. I text pictures and little anecdotes about my girls. Invite her to minor school stuff that ex-DH is "too busy" (he's unemployed) to attend.