Men confess to dealing with mothers-in-law from hell

MANY of us are lucky enough to marry into families where the mothers of our spouses treat us as their own. However, we’ve also heard countless stories about meddling mothers-in-law from hell as told by women who have tried and failed miserably to live up to the expectations of their spouses’ mothers. But men have also had their share of dealing with monsters-in-law who refuse to sever the ties and allow their daughters to leave and cleave, and below, some of them share their experiences.

Kemron, 33, carpenter:

My mother-in-law doesn’t like me, though she has not said it in so many words. One way she shows me is that she often takes all her other grandchildren for the holidays but leaves my children out, because she thinks that I ruined her daughter’s life. She asks that I don’t go to family functions, so my wife and children also stay home, so she says that I have wrecked her relationship with her daughter. I have apologised many times for getting her daughter pregnant while she was still in school, but I made up for it by working hard, supporting her through college, and she’s now my wife who is preparing to do her master’s. But my mother-in-law is still a far way from forgiving me.

Kevin, 30, physiotherapist:

I am not going to say that I won my wife in the most elegant way, but I was tired of seeing that sorry excuse of a man take advantage of her and cheating with other women. So I told her, I gave her all the details, and she ended up with me. Long story short, when it was time for us to get married, my mother-in-law sabotaged us and not only that — she refused to unveil the wedding cake with my mother. She does not speak to me outside of exchanging pleasantries and usually only when guests are there.

Danny, 50, architect:

I was 23 and her daughter 21 when we met, and she made our lives miserable because she said I couldn’t provide for her daughter because I wasn’t in a big job. She even went to my family acting like I was molesting and harassing her daughter, and when that didn’t work she started spreading rumours about my family. Her daughter begged me not to let that get between us, but even when everything started coming together for us, her mother still tried to sabotage us. And you know, even with that, I still give my wife money to care for her even though she still refuses to act maturely.

Harold, 45, business owner:

Instead of encouraging us to work through difficulties, my mother-in-law would always encourage my wife to leave the house, even when we started having children, and come to stay with her. She never encouraged counselling or anything like that. A few years after she died, her sister was joking about the fact that my mother-in-law was hoping that she could get my wife to leave me for a guy who was her neighbour, and who she had hoped my wife would marry, even though that guy once broke my wife’s nose and was emotionally abusive. But you see, ‘licky-licky’ mumma will be the death of their children.

David, 41, contractor:

My wedding day still remains, though one of the happiest, one of the days that I have most regret about. My mother-in-law and her husband started fighting with some friends of ours about seating, even though we discussed it before the event. It turned into a brawl with her telling them she was paying for the food and had paid for the tables and chairs, so they should get the hell out. The most painful part is that we could have covered the cost of those things but they offered to gift us. Some years later she did something similar with the children and schooling. We refused to send them to a school because there were rumours of prejudice, and she started going off about her paying for their education, which she also offered to do. I made my wife tell her we were fine on our own and enrolled our children where we wanted to. She tries to boss my wife around about family activities, the house, and other stuff my wife is in charge of, which annoys me, but she has to learn to deal with her mother.