OP, I agree with this and with the advice to take each situation separately. Relationships are about more than right/wrong or winning/losing. Maybe your family will eventually develop a sense of humor about DS' grandmother, whom you all love very much, but who sure is a battle ax. |
How often do you see her? She sounds horrible. I'd cut the visits back.
Though I do think your interactions with your child are more important than Grandma's. He'll figure out himself that grandma is someone he doesn't want to spend time with. |
Oh,no this must be dealt with immediately. MIL to 2 yr old grandson: A monkey could put this puzzle together. You aren't concentrating. You: Madge, could you come in the kitchen with me? You: Husband, can you come in the kitchen? (Wait for husband to come) You: Madge, Bill and I are very clear about this: our children will be raised in a positive, loving environment. You have many loving qualities and we want our son to have a positive relationship with his grandmother. However, if you choose to continue with demeaning comments like "A monkey could put this puzzle together" then we will choose to spend our time without you. It's that simple. I need to get back to spending time with our son. Please join us. |
Preschool teacher here...there's a huge difference between a kid falling down and getting a little bump and telling him to brush it off and keep going and when a kid truly hurts themselves and needs a hug and Comfort instead of "suck it up buttercup." Im guessing mil doesn't know the difference and I imagine Op knows the difference.
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It's going to be awesome when you're an MIL in about 30 years.
I can see it now How to tell DS that his wife is wrong pretty much all the time? |
Is your MIL from a different culture? Not American? |
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Wow, this sucks. No advice, but good luck, OP! |
Absolutely perfect. |
Yeah, don't do the big in-the-kitchen meeting. She won't get it and won't change. I know because my parents are like this (both of them!). Everything is negative, and everything is always my fault (or my sibling's fault). The best example I can think of is one time when I was in my early 20s and driving my father somewhere. I was stopped at a stop sign when the woman behind me plowed into me. I was stopped at a stop sign and she didn't stop, so rear-ended me. My father turned to me and said, "well, you chose this road." I don't allow my child to be alone with them and try to run interference on the negativity when they're around. |
I agree with the other posters who said to correct your MIL in front of DC and never let her alone with him until he is old enough to laugh in her face. |
And do it calmly and consistently. You need to have more willpower than she has. |
OP here again and MIL is American - very American family going back nearly 150 years. And yes, she lives here - we see her too often! Thanks for the advice and empathy. Yes, this sucks. I want my child (and any future children) to have a relationship with their paternal grandmother but I don't want her to inflict the same damage on our kids that she did DH and his siblings. |
Wow. DH talks to her in no uncertain terms, and you cut back on visits if she doesn't change. Both of you step in when she says crap like that. "What an unkind thing to say! Marge, remember what we discussed. If you can't be kind, we will have to ask you to leave/leave." |
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