OT - MIL stories

The rant about the MIL from he** started me down memory lane because mine was a
piece of work too. For quite some time, we supplemented her small income and
she used some of the money to buy us cheap clothes and junk for which we were
supposed to be eternally grateful. She insisted on bi-weekly overnight visits
even though it would've been as easy for us to come for the day.

She pitched a major hissy fit when we told her that we would name our baby
after her late husband in Hebrew but would only use the first letter of his
name in English. The rabbi who married us made a house call to try to explain
that was 'kosher' in Jewish 'law.' He was only partially sucessful sigh

When my husband took a job in Tennessee, she pitched an even bigger fit ...
said there was no reason for her to live since her only child was going to be
so far away and all her family was either dead or not speaking to her. So we
'invited' her to come with us and found a 'ranch' house with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good to say
about the accomodations and was very vocal about the placement of her crappy
furniture which she insisted we bring with us throughout the new home.

She never gave us a moment's privacy. I became her chaffeur to numerous
doctor's appointments. Within a year, we moved her to a senior citizens complex
which, naturally, she disliked. Not long after, my husband also moved out.

Your turn
--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

In article . com, anne
writes:

with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good to
say
about the accomodations

Oh, the horror, you made her live in the basement instead of giving her the
main floor and taking the basement yourselves. What ungrateful children you
are to make the poor old lady with her arthritis live in the cold damp
basement.

I still maintain that the only good MIL is a dead MIL........


--
Finished 11/17/04 - Pets are People Too
WIP: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler,
Holiday Snowglobe

Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html

You gals really have me excited about becoming a MIL someday :P

The advice I got from a woman I've known for many years is: "Linda,
the best advice I can give to you is when you go to visit your son,
his wife, and kids, take presents and keep your mouth shut!"

Pretty good advice eh?

take care, Linda

P.S. This lady is the Mother to 4 grown boys, and I've got 2 boys
ages 20 and 23. My Mom always told me she was willing to take advice
from anyone with more kids than she (grin).


On 27 Nov 2004 17:17:07 GMT, S (Karen C -
California) wrote:

Oh, the horror, you made her live in the basement instead of giving her the
main floor and taking the basement yourselves. What ungrateful children you
are to make the poor old lady with her arthritis live in the cold damp
basement.

I still maintain that the only good MIL is a dead MIL........

In article . com, anne
writes:

with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good to
say
about the accomodations

"Karen C - California" wrote in message
...
In article . com, anne
writes:

with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good
to
say
about the accomodations

Oh, the horror, you made her live in the basement instead of giving her
the
main floor and taking the basement yourselves. What ungrateful children
you
are to make the poor old lady with her arthritis live in the cold damp
basement.

I still maintain that the only good MIL is a dead MIL........

Karen, I hope that the statement above also went along with the *smiley* or
you would be wishing a sad fate on a lot of your friends! I certainly
don't agree with it as I had a wonderful MIL who unfortunately was taken
from us all too soon. Somehow I think there are as many *good* MILs as
*evil* ones! The problem is we only hear the horror stories of the later.
Tia Mary is an example of the former.

Mavia...MIL to two

"Karen C - California" wrote in message
...
In article . com, anne
writes:

with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good
to
say
about the accomodations

Oh, the horror, you made her live in the basement instead of giving her
the
main floor and taking the basement yourselves. What ungrateful children
you
are to make the poor old lady with her arthritis live in the cold damp
basement.

I still maintain that the only good MIL is a dead MIL........

My son in law and I get along great. We share some hobbies and he comes
over, on his days off, to visit, with my grandkids.
Judy

In article Kv3qd.216518$9b.91140@edtnps84, "Mavia Beaulieu"
writes:

Karen, I hope that the statement above also went along with the *smiley* or
you would be wishing a sad fate on a lot of your friends!

Mavia, I can see where you would be a good MIL, but the two I've had weren't
worth having. Can I trade for you next time?


--
Finished 11/17/04 - Pets are People Too
WIP: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler,
Holiday Snowglobe

Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html

I disagree -- I'm a good mother-in-law. In fact, I'm a GREAT mother-in-law.
My very best trait is that I've learned (am learning???) how to keep my
mouth shut.
--
Jere

"Karen C - California" wrote in message
...
In article . com, anne
writes:

with an unfinished
basement and had a bedroom and full bath installed. She had nothing good
to
say
about the accomodations

Oh, the horror, you made her live in the basement instead of giving her
the
main floor and taking the basement yourselves. What ungrateful children
you
are to make the poor old lady with her arthritis live in the cold damp
basement.

I still maintain that the only good MIL is a dead MIL........


--
Finished 11/17/04 - Pets are People Too
WIP: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn, Calif
Sampler,
Holiday Snowglobe

Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:24:46 GMT, "Jere Williams"
wrote:

I disagree -- I'm a good mother-in-law. In fact, I'm a GREAT mother-in-law.
My very best trait is that I've learned (am learning???) how to keep my
mouth shut.

So maybe the quote should be "the only good mother in law is a quiet
monher in law"? g

I didn't get along with mine either. Very controlling of her three
sons and thought she could get away with the same once I came along,
tried to use my children as leverage to get what she wanted. I drew
the line when she tried to convince me to sign over legal custody of
my children to her so she could get them baptized in "her" church.
Now her son and I live apart and I have absolutely no contact of any
kind with her, a fact for which I am heartily glad. I feel sorry for
the children of the oldest son, though, because Martha doesn't stand
up to MIL and those kids get dragged all over the place to satisfy the
woman's desires.


Jenn L.
--
http://community.webshots.com/user/jaliace

Current projects:
Christmas Carnations (Threads Through Time)
Nordic Needle Rose (Silver Lining)
Starry Night (Vincent van Gogh via Cross Stitch Collectibles)
Lady of the Flag (Mirabilia)

No, I don't think a mother-in-law has to be quiet, but she surely does have
to keep meddling to a minimum.

I had no model -- my husband's mom died 6 months before we married.

But signing over legal custody -- that's WAAAY over the top. I'm glad you
stood up to her.
--
Jere

"Jenn Liace" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:24:46 GMT, "Jere Williams"
wrote:

I disagree -- I'm a good mother-in-law. In fact, I'm a GREAT
mother-in-law.
My very best trait is that I've learned (am learning???) how to keep my
mouth shut.

So maybe the quote should be "the only good mother in law is a quiet
monher in law"? g

I didn't get along with mine either. Very controlling of her three
sons and thought she could get away with the same once I came along,
tried to use my children as leverage to get what she wanted. I drew
the line when she tried to convince me to sign over legal custody of
my children to her so she could get them baptized in "her" church.
Now her son and I live apart and I have absolutely no contact of any
kind with her, a fact for which I am heartily glad. I feel sorry for
the children of the oldest son, though, because Martha doesn't stand
up to MIL and those kids get dragged all over the place to satisfy the
woman's desires.


Jenn L.
--
http://community.webshots.com/user/jaliace

Current projects:
Christmas Carnations (Threads Through Time)
Nordic Needle Rose (Silver Lining)
Starry Night (Vincent van Gogh via Cross Stitch Collectibles)
Lady of the Flag (Mirabilia)

You all make me grateful for my MIL. She is, in many ways, a total
dingbat - and I can tell stories on her! But she doesn't interfere in
our lives. And I do love her.

Of course, she did have my BIL and DH wondering if you can inherit debt.
She decided she wanted to be a horse rescuer, and instead of doing the
sensible thing and volunteering at our local, very good one, went into
major debt. She built a new barn, sheds with runs, an outdoor arena, and
bought a brand new on-the-fly 4x4 dually* and 6-horse trailer, all top
of the line. I don't know where or how she got the loans... She was
going to finance all this by boarding and training, and breeding. She
also bought several expensive brood mares, and two stallions...

Anyone who has anything to do with horses will tell you that the way to
make a small fortune in horses is to start with a big one. Her sons were
afraid that she'd die, and they'd have to pay all those debts.

She finally figured it out, and sold it all, except the place. Oh, and
she never rescued a single horse.

One of her best friends is a bona fide horse trainer; and my now
ex-stepfather-in-law is a farmer. Both of them tried to tell her... She
divorced Chuck over it.

I don't know whether to say she has good taste in men, or bad. She's a
good picker, but throws them out on flimsy excuses. I would have married
Chuck like a shot, if it wasn't for my own DH; and he (DH) owes much of
who he is to her second husband Jerry, and his (DH's) father's second
wife. I like to say that I'm blessed with 4 sets of wonderful in-laws.
But I don't say it in front of her; it makes her mad.

I "might should" say that Chuck was one of the first friends I made when
I moved to Colorado; he was still married to his first wife. And I was
friends with MIL before I ever met her son. So I know them both better
than you might expect!

She has a heart as big as all outdoors, and always invites friends with
no local family over for holiday feasts. She has never said one word to
DH about me being so much older, and my lack of both the ability and the
desire to have children.

All in all, I love her; and if we all put our MILs in a pile in the
middle of the room to pick and choose from, I'd still pick her.

*for those unfamiliar with the slang, a dually is one of those pickup
trucks with double back wheels; and "4x4 on the fly" means that you can
shift from two wheel drive to four wheel drive while moving. Both are
very expensive options. (Normally, to shift into 4, one stops the truck,
gets out, and does something to all 4 wheels called "locking the hubs."
Not a lot of fun in the snow.)

Ruthie in Colorado
alowan'earthlink'net