how would you respond if your MIL KEPT repeating how large your house was?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| ^If she's saying it to be biotchy that'll clam her up. If she's saying it because she's impressed with your house - she'll agree and that'll probably be the end of it. |
Anonymous
|
I would say "I agree. And it is really too much for me to take care of sometimes. However, DH really likes it and the size is similar to houses his peers at work have, so he feels comfortable when we have to entertain people from his work."
I say these kinds of things to my MIL all the time and she just beams with pride that her son is doing so well. I do not have a very big ego nor I am emotionally fragile and so I can usually figure out what the motivation of the other person is and work around it. I am also very conflict averse in situations that I will not win or rewards are small, and IL interactions you cannot win - EVER. So, it is best to diffuse the situation by giving a hidden compliment. |
Anonymous
|
"It's the same house you visited last time."
"It makes me uncomfortable when you keep making comments about the size of our home." |
Anonymous
| It depends on the history. Is she lonely and trying to request more visit opportunities or wanting to move in? |
Anonymous
| Just smile and nod. Then change the subject. You do not have to respond verbally. |
Anonymous
|
OP, if it were my MIL, I would have to agree with PP who said she is taken aback by it being bigger than hers.
Again, if it were my MIL, this would mean she is jealous and wants some sort of bizarre bragging rights. My MIL takes pictures inside my home without asking, it really is bizarre. Now you know why mu MIL specifically was not invited to the hospital when I gave birth. "Pics of my vajajay for all!" Holy crap. Anyway, if it were me I would say something like "yes you keep saying that." Maybe she will get the hint? As far as the empty rooms (if there are any) - unless you are a Rockefeller, no one I know furnishes a new house immediately. One room at a time. |
Anonymous
| When my MIL said this, it meant she wanted to move in with us. BE WARNED! That was a sticky situation. |
Anonymous
|
It's better than what my grandmother used to say: "You must have more money than God." She'd say this for every nice thing I bought. New car, new house, even when I bought nice clothes. "You must have more money than God." I still have no idea what that is supposed to mean.
|
Anonymous
| At least she doesn't comment about how small your house is. My own mother says this about my house. And believe me, she is commenting about our financial situation. So it could be worse, much worse. |
Anonymous
Yes, it's better to be envied. |
Anonymous
It means she thinks you're richer than the Rockefellers and the Queen of England! 
|
Anonymous
we get the strangest comments, MIL cannot fathom anything different or done differently from how she does it. This includes breakfast, gift giving, reading material, cooking, vacationing and living. She keeps asking when we are going to "put up more doors and walls" in our open plan house. Just don't answer her. If youreally can't take it, just say you and your husband saved up for 10+ years each a night a house for the longterm. We're so blessed to have to the same saving/spending habits and tastes in real estate. |
Anonymous
| We feel so fortunate to have it! |
Anonymous
|
We moved into a beautiful 3k square foot brick colonial .....
And my MIL turned up her nose and asked if it was a pre-fab. Like a mobile home pre-fabricated home |
Anonymous
| Just ignore. She thinks it's ostentatious, obviously. She'll get over it. |