Mother In Law – Nightmare Or Treasure?
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on
May 16th, 2008
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Quick poll, how many consecutive weeks (days?) have your mother in law stayed with you? My Mexican MIL is her for 6 weeks on vacation to hang out with her grand kids. I get along great with her and having her this long is no problem, she's even been here 3 months a couple of times. She's great with children and also gives us a nice perspective on our kids, especially our daughter. The hyper active one with occasional ADHD like behavior who can't sit still. If you haven't realized it yet, perspective is one of the most valuable assets when looking for life quality.
My MIL is a wizard with kids and has an amazing amount of energy despite being 60+years old. For the last two months or so, our daughter has calmed down quite a bit. She can actually sit still for a few minutes at times and has been able to watch a few minutes of television. Being with her is now like a vacation. Or so we thought.
When our son Daniel was young, my MIL spent plenty of time with us. Months at the time. She got up at 6 am., went for a walk, played with our son all day long, and still had energy left for wine and fun in the evening. Which brings me back to my daughter and her "calm" behavior. My MIL is totally exhausted now. And that's despite my daughter spending half the day at day care.
MIL now struggles out of bed at 8 am., relaxes half the day, but is still exhausted in the evening after being with my daugher for a few hours in the afternoon. And we though she was calm…. I almost have to force her to consume the daily two glasses of wine. It's a perfect example of how important it is to have, or get, a perspective on life. Especially after having kids. My dream day could be another family's worst nightmare, it's all about perspective.
I'm fortunate to have a great MIL. She gives us lots of extra help, is rarely in the way, and my kids adore her. She's a treasure. What about your MIL? Are you buddies or are fist fights more common?
Popularity: 7% [?]
My mother-in-law is great too. We enjoy it when she comes and stays. The only thing is I think she sometimes feels like we’re not supposed to have that kind of relationship, and so she gets worried that she is intruding, being annoying, and all that.
She’s say things like, “I know he’s glad I got out of the house,” when I really don’t feel that way at all.
The tension peaked during heavy wedding planning, but since Suzi’s birth we’ve been getting to know each other better and finding we actually have some things in common! I love my MIL–she and my FIL have been more than generous and helpful as we moved into our first house. She is like a little roadrunner and when she leaves, I’m the one who’s exhausted. But she does help get things done, big time. There are times when she “straightens up” a little too much and I can’t find something after she’s gone home. There are frequently things on which we don’t agree. But now that a baby has been added to the mix, there’s more good to look at and way less time to focus on the bad!