Hey Rosie!
February 24, 2017

Mother-in-law taking over my household

Hey Rosie,

How do I get my mother-in-law to stop trying to take over my household? She wants to tell me what to feed my kids, when to bathe them, how I should cook for her son and on and on. I’m so annoyed with her presence that I can’t stand family and holiday gatherings. I make all sorts of excuses not to go. My husband says he knows that she is overbearing, but she means well, so he does nothing. We’ve been married 11 years and I am at the end of my rope.

Help me please!

Dear Help me please,

I feel your pain. I realize that you unfortunately have inherited a busybody mother-in-law. She doesn’t recognize or respect boundaries, which works to your detriment.

I personally feel that your husband should play a more active role in telling his mother that she is stepping out of bounds. It would be in his best interest to jump in and be a mediator, so that life could be a lot smoother, period. I do hope he sees this benefit sooner than later.

You will also have to manage your own expectations when coming to your relationship with your mother-in-law. You can limit how long you see her when she comes over, find an errand and leave. You can seriously exercise deep breathing when she’s around. You can also repeat positive affirmations over and over to get through the tension. Or finally, you can sit her down and simply tell her that you are going require her to respect your boundaries, because it is upsetting you. This can be with or without your hubby. The bottom line is, you will have to change your approach in order to survive this intrusion. I really do wish you the best.

Rosie

Send questions to Rosie at: heyrosie24@yahoo.com or PO Box 152,

Kingstown,St Vincent & the Grenadines