Slightly Irritating Things Your In-Laws Do

[Anonymous]

She tells me in high-end DC real estate, people don't deal in square footage. It's not discussed. I guess these high end homes are magically mysteriously the right size without anyone being so crass as to discuss actual square footage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MIL puts her purse right on our kitchen table or counter. It's the same purse that was just on the floor of a restaurant or even on the floor of a public bathroom. She also doesn't wash her hands in the bathroom after using the bathroom on our main level. She comes out and washes her hands in the kitchen sink every time. Same soap, no fancy towels or anything like that. Sometimes she touches a few things like picture frames on the way from the bathroom to the kitchen sink. It irritates the sh** out of me.

We know.

You’ve posted about this MANY times and have devoted entire threads to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine calls families / couples by their last names only vs THE whatever.

“We had dinner with Smiths.”
“We went boating with Martins.”

She’s also always asking about the next meal, even if we’re literally eating. It’s her trying to be hospitable and plan, but it’s stressful. I don’t want to think about dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow when I’m eating lunch on vacation!

Is she from the Midwest? I had a MIL from Iowa, and she was the only person I ever heard do this.

Yes! She’s from Michigan. I love her dearly but for some reason it grates when she says this.

[Anonymous]

My MIL is lovely but never. Stops. Talking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine calls families / couples by their last names only vs THE whatever.

“We had dinner with Smiths.”
“We went boating with Martins.”

She’s also always asking about the next meal, even if we’re literally eating. It’s her trying to be hospitable and plan, but it’s stressful. I don’t want to think about dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow when I’m eating lunch on vacation!

Is she from the Midwest? I had a MIL from Iowa, and she was the only person I ever heard do this.

Yes! She’s from Michigan. I love her dearly but for some reason it grates when she says this.

Idk why people think this is a Midwest thing. I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life and have never heard someone talk like that. Even the really folksy people. Seems like a speech issue to drop ‘the.’

[Anonymous]

^^Ditto, and I’m from Indiana. I’ve also never heard Midwesterners talk about “the States.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine calls families / couples by their last names only vs THE whatever.

“We had dinner with Smiths.”
“We went boating with Martins.”

She’s also always asking about the next meal, even if we’re literally eating. It’s her trying to be hospitable and plan, but it’s stressful. I don’t want to think about dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow when I’m eating lunch on vacation!

Is she from the Midwest? I had a MIL from Iowa, and she was the only person I ever heard do this.

Yes! She’s from Michigan. I love her dearly but for some reason it grates when she says this.

Idk why people think this is a Midwest thing. I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life and have never heard someone talk like that. Even the really folksy people. Seems like a speech issue to drop ‘the.’

Also from MI and never heard this before in my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^Ditto, and I’m from Indiana. I’ve also never heard Midwesterners talk about “the States.”

Yes, I've spent a lot of time living in various parts of the Midwest and have never heard anyone using these expressions either.

I've heard people who are presently living overseas discuss when they plan to fly back to "the States" to visit, or return to "the States" to live, but I've never heard anyone living in the US refer to their country as "the States." Can anyone give an example of the context in which people are saying this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^Ditto, and I’m from Indiana. I’ve also never heard Midwesterners talk about “the States.”

Yes, I've spent a lot of time living in various parts of the Midwest and have never heard anyone using these expressions either.

I've heard people who are presently living overseas discuss when they plan to fly back to "the States" to visit, or return to "the States" to live, but I've never heard anyone living in the US refer to their country as "the States." Can anyone give an example of the context in which people are saying this?

“The croissants in Paris are exquisite. So much better than anything you get in the States.” -my MIL, while sitting on her porch in Pennsylvania, pronouncing “croissant” as “KWA-sant”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^Ditto, and I’m from Indiana. I’ve also never heard Midwesterners talk about “the States.”

Yes, I've spent a lot of time living in various parts of the Midwest and have never heard anyone using these expressions either.

I've heard people who are presently living overseas discuss when they plan to fly back to "the States" to visit, or return to "the States" to live, but I've never heard anyone living in the US refer to their country as "the States." Can anyone give an example of the context in which people are saying this?

“The croissants in Paris are exquisite. So much better than anything you get in the States.” -my MIL, while sitting on her porch in Pennsylvania, pronouncing “croissant” as “KWA-sant”

? That is (close) to how it’s pronounced. Is she supposed to say Kra-SANT? That pronunciation drives me loopy

[Anonymous]

Bring us crap like furniture and Knick knacks they no longer want (they are constantly devluttering their condo and cluttering our home), and bringing us their old clothes or clothes they bought st second hand stores. Clothes that are in style for the over 70s set. If we ask them to watch our kids, they will bring takeout for dinner, which they will eat as soon as they get to our house without thinking of what the children will eat. We often pay them for the takeout. They refuse to take off their shoes to go upstairs (our bedrooms have carpet), so they never go upstairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bring us crap like furniture and Knick knacks they no longer want (they are constantly devluttering their condo and cluttering our home), and bringing us their old clothes or clothes they bought st second hand stores. Clothes that are in style for the over 70s set. If we ask them to watch our kids, they will bring takeout for dinner, which they will eat as soon as they get to our house without thinking of what the children will eat. We often pay them for the takeout. They refuse to take off their shoes to go upstairs (our bedrooms have carpet), so they never go upstairs.

I don’t get this. Why aren’t you feeding your kids? Why are you paying for the takeout they paid for before they brought it Over? Do you offer or do they ask?

[Anonymous]

My mil is sweet. She still has that mothering need to feed instinct but she doesn’t really cook much anymore. She also often eats bars instead of meals, so she carries a ton of bars in her purse. We don’t really eat bars but she is constantly offering them and/or rooting through her purse to find one for you. She tries to keep it as healthy as possible so they are kind of nasty too. We just keep saying no thanks and grin at each other. Dh and I should make it a drinking game. We know it comes from a good place, though.

[Anonymous]

My mother brings her own instant coffee in a little jar, claiming she must have a cup of coffee immediately. DH and I are coffee snobs and have just about every coffee making product available and have a coffee maker that can be preset. Nope. Not good enough.

[Anonymous]

I should post this in the Beach House thread, but my ILs save the boxes that food, appliances, pens, everything. So many boxes! One granola bar left in a huge box, same for popsicles.

I’m the evil DIL and am crushing and recycling all.