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[quote=Anonymous]My MIL has longstanding mental health challenges, and my husband’s relationship with her has become quite strained as those issues have progressed. They are currently very low contact. DH is in therapy and doing a lot of work around boundaries and long-standing family dynamics.

When our children were younger, they had a fairly surface-level, affectionate relationship with her. As they’ve entered their teen years, however, her behavior has increasingly made them uncomfortable. We do not allow the kids to be alone with her.

During this current low-contact period with DH, she has begun reaching out to the kids more frequently and persistently, sometimes during the school day, and the content often feels emotionally loaded (“I miss when you were little,” “the cats miss you,” etc.). The teens find this distressing and confusing. They’ve noticed that if they respond, the messages increase, and if they don’t respond, she escalates her attempts.

We’ve silenced her notifications on their phones, but even seeing missed messages is causing them anxiety. At this point, they’ve expressed that they do not want direct contact with her.

DH struggles with this emotionally and still hopes that one day the kids might have a healthier relationship with his mother than he did, but I’m increasingly concerned about prioritizing our teens’ comfort and emotional well-being now.

Would it be reasonable to block her from texting/calling the kids at this stage, at least temporarily? If you’ve navigated something similar, especially with teens, I’d appreciate hearing how you handled it.[/quote]

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