Any mother with children would no doubt be irritated to have someone else come up to her and insist that her child call them “mother”.
Our 34-year-old heroine Rebecca, who is expecting her first child, experienced the same thing. However, her condition is worsened by her mother-in-law who has such ridiculous demands.
Rebecca wrote and shared her entire story with us, which also evoked a wide range of emotions for us.
At first, Rebecca and her in-laws had a great relationship.
Rebecca, 34, told us about her experience and shared her concerns about her MIL’s extremely provocative actions.
The woman said, “Hello, Bright Side!” as she unfolded her letter. When my MIL drives me crazy and no one really listens to me (well, my husband, but he’s on my mother’s side), I feel like I desperately need some guidance.
Therefore, I sincerely hope that the readers of my story on your site will have some thoughts.”
“So my husband Rick and I have been married for over 7 years,” Rebecca wrote.
Our relationship was always wonderful and I never complained. Likewise regarding my in-laws. Rick’s father in particular was incredibly nice and friendly to me and reminded me a lot of my own father who I lost to cancer ten years ago. They welcomed me as if I were their own daughter.’
“My MIL, Susan, is 57 years old and has always been nice to me,” the woman continued. That is until the day Rick’s father unexpectedly died of a massive heart attack. Since then, there has been a significant change in her attitude. So for the first two years of our marriage, I was basically welcomed into the family; after that, ugly things started happening one after another.”
Susan started acting really offensive and provocative.
“After Rick’s dad died, Susan started torturing me in every possible way,” Rebecca continues. She acted in a manner consistent with her belief that someone had “stolen her son” from her.
I would be accused by her of things I never did.
She even called the police on me after accusing me of stealing some of her valuables. It was subsequently discovered that the case was fabricated and Susan simply hid her valuables in a box behind the couch in her living room. She claimed to have forgotten but showed no remorse.”
The woman revealed: “She accused me of being disloyal to Rick because I sometimes went out for coffee or discussed work matters with male co-workers and acquaintances outside the office. Everything about it seemed absurd. She crossed the line, so I tried not to pay any attention to what she did attention.”
Susan asserted her ownership rights to Rebecca’s unborn child.
Rebecca revealed: “I’m six months pregnant right now. We’d been trying for a baby for many years before the miracle of my conception happened, so this pregnancy had been a long time coming. Due to the high-risk nature of my pregnancy, I need to look after myself and focus exclusively for good, but Susan won’t let me.”
“Susan recently reached out to me and said that my unborn child needs to call HER ‘mommy’ instead of me,” the woman elaborated.
Obviously, I asked her to repeat herself because I was overwhelmed and even believed that I didn’t understand her. Then she declared, “My baby has to call her mommy.” “I’m more important to my son than you,” was her justification for doing this. You can only give him something that I cannot.
Rebecca continued: “Susan also insisted that she could have a baby too if she wanted and stressed that I wasn’t ‘special’ for being pregnant.”
Rebecca was furious, but that wasn’t all.
Rebecca wrote: “I confronted my husband about his mum’s strange claims and he said I can’t pay attention to it because ‘Mommy only wants the best for all of us and if she wants our child to call her ‘mommy’. , then the child will call both you and her ‘mommy’.” As the woman said, “Rick called it ‘diplomacy’ and saw no problems at all. What an absurdity!”
However, that was not all. Shortly after their conversation, Susan went to Rebecca once more and asked Rebecca to give her the baby. “Susan claimed I wasn’t ready to be a wife and mother and said I had to ‘pay her back’ if I wanted to be with her son,” the woman wrote. In her warped mind, she imagined that I had taken her son from her and that now I had to give birth to my own child and experience the suffering she had endured for so long.’
“Of course, I asked Susan to leave immediately after she started saying this nonsense again,” Rebecca wrote as she closed the letter. Right now I’m trying to stay as far away from her as possible. However, my husband feels that I should talk to his mother more and says that I am rude to a widow who has lost her husband and is left on this earth.
But I think it’s just manipulation on a small scale, and once I have the baby, I really think I might break up with Rick. I think we don’t need to waste any more of each other’s time unless he stops standing up for his mother and supporting her foolishness.”
Another woman is introduced here, whose mother-in-law let her marriage and life be destroyed for her mission in life. The mother really wants to sleep with him in her son’s bed because she is so devoted to him. A frantic wife turned to us for help because she didn’t know how to deal with her mother-in-law.
Rebecca’s situation paints a disturbing picture of the conflicts that can arise when in-laws cross boundaries and exhibit irrational behavior. Rebecca’s relationship with her mother-in-law Susan, who was initially warmly welcomed into her husband’s family, has deteriorated drastically since the death of Rick’s father. What started as a subtle tension escalated into a disturbing display of entitlement and manipulation on Susan’s part.
Susan’s demands that Rebecca’s unborn child refer to her as “Mom” and her subsequent assertion that Rebecca is unfit to be a mother reflect a profound disregard for boundaries and a disturbing sense of possessiveness. Her behavior not only undermines Rebecca’s role as a mother but also puts an undue strain on Rebecca’s relationship with her husband.
Despite Rebecca’s attempts to handle these challenges with grace, Susan’s continued interference and Rick’s unwillingness to confront her mother’s missteps left her feeling cornered and disrespected. This situation not only tests Rebecca’s patience but also raises serious concerns about her future with Rick if he continues to side with his mother instead of supporting her.
As Rebecca contemplates her next steps, including the possibility of ending the marriage if things don’t improve, it’s clear that finding a solution will require more than overcoming family tensions. It will require reevaluating the dynamics of her relationship and deciding whether her husband’s willingness to tolerate her mother’s behavior is something she can accept in the long term.
Rebecca’s story serves as a stark reminder of how important it is for couples to resolve and manage family conflicts with empathy and firmness. When in-laws cross their boundaries, it is imperative that partners stand united and protect the sanctity of their family unit.