Wife Joins Forces With Hubby To Safeguard Their Kids From Her Toxic Mother

“We’d do anything to protect our kids, even if it means cutting off their grandma.”

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• November 20, 2023

A while ago, our narrator (Original Poster) shared how things went awry after he disinvited his MIL from their family Christmas celebration. But wait! There was a backstory. 

Since the birth of their son, OP’s mother-in-law has been acting out. She was irked by the fact he was born out of wedlock and proceeded to show it in many ways: leaving them out of family dinners, blowing off their invites, and even missing their wedding!

Surprisingly, OP’s wife was not on his side—Christmas was a big deal in their family, after all. Thankfully, the flood of replies from the community served as a lifeline that helped untangle the emotional knots.

The spotlight finally shifted to the elephant in the room—OP’s mother-in-law. His wife admitted things had been “challenging” since the birth of their son. 

She’d been operating under the "but she's family" guise, but with this newfound clarity, she agreed protecting their kids from such toxicity was more important.

She wasn’t on board with severing ties completely but conceded to limiting contact. From now on, OP’s MIL would have no business with him or their kids—his wife alone would bear the brunt of the communication.

Predictably, the MIL vehemently refused to have joint therapy with his wife, so she’d be doing that alone.

With a sigh of relief, OP expressed newfound optimism— the burden was finally lifted. They now eagerly anticipated the impending birth of their daughter in March, free from the lingering shadows of family conflict.

Let’s take a quick look at the original post

Some background

The second part

OP came back with an update

The replies to the original post were pretty helpful

The elephant in the room

Here’s how the Reddit community reacted to the update:

“I know things are not perfect but I am glad things are moving in the right direction for your family.“

“I expect this won't be over and the MIL will be even more difficult to deal with.”

“You and your wife are a team and need to communicate before making big decisions involving each other's family members.“

“You’ll need to have a unified plan for holidays and gift giving/receiving and you’re well on your way.“

“It’s funny how many people don’t discover their backbone or boundaries until they have kids.”

“Be watchful for your MIL trying to pull gross favoritism for your daughter.”

“Yay! It's nice to see these kinds of updates. I bet that MIL definitely won't be happy with your decision.”

“Your MIL is going to absolutely do favoritism like crazy- you can’t expose either of your kids to that.“

“We tolerate MUCH more from family because of the social contract, whereas a friend who pulled the shit your MIL did would have been booted out.”

OP expresses heartfelt appreciation for the transformative impact of the community's responses. 

The heavy clouds of discord disperse at last, making room for a future where the arrival of their daughter sparks excitement, not worry.

Thankfully, OP and his spouse finally cast aside their differences and put up a united front concerning their children’s well-being.

Cheers to the power of community!

What do you think about this story? Let us know in the comments.

Jesse