Overheard a MIL complaining...

[Anonymous]

But...there really is no more room in my kids closet. Literally. And my MIL wants to see the clothes she buys on the kid. So me just donating them sets off another rant from her.

At what point CAN you say " this is really generous, but I don't have room for any more clothes, and i would hate to see you spending money on clothes kiddo cant use. But we sure could use X,y,z if you feel like doing that."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But...there really is no more room in my kids closet. Literally. And my MIL wants to see the clothes she buys on the kid. So me just donating them sets off another rant from her.

At what point CAN you say " this is really generous, but I don't have room for any more clothes, and i would hate to see you spending money on clothes kiddo cant use. But we sure could use X,y,z if you feel like doing that."

Hmmm, well, at some point you really can't force clothes onto a kid. What if you say your kid doesn't want to wear them and throws fits every time you take them out? One of my grandmothers used to buy us some pretty awful stuff that my mother would make me wear and to this day I still cringe when I think about the hideous purple overalls my mother forced on me that made me feel gross and unattractive even as a six year old.

Other than that, how often does MIL see your child that she can have any kind of say regarding what your child wears? That would drive me up the wall. I'd feel compelled to buy her her own doll to dress already.

[Anonymous]

omg yes it would be nice if your MIL had better taste and didn't 'waste' her money on stuff for grandbaby and instead bought savings bonds. First world problems, lol.

Just say thanks anyway, take a pic with the new outfit once in awhile no matter how icky you think it is, give stuff away or return it or whatever. Pick your battles.

[Anonymous]

Re:how often does MIL see kiddo: 3-5 x per week minimum. And no she does not provide childcare.