IN-LAWS

Where did the idea originate that mother-in-laws are always evil?

I can appreciate that for many centuries, several generations of families lived under the same roof, and that could lead to a few (cough, cough, wink, wink, nudge, nudge) conflicts.

My own mother lived in our house for over five years, and I think the only reason my marriage survived was 1) my husband was the one who brought up the concept of her moving in with us after her first bout of breast cancer, 2) her already loose grip of reality was rapidly weakened by Alzheimer's, and 3) he was raised with an extremely high level of respect for his own mom.

I have a wonderful relationship with my own mother-in-law, but I think that is mainly because 1) she lives in Oregon, 2) I don't live in Oregon, 3) she does not travel.... at all, and 3) I get to visit her about once every three years.

And I may have been concerned about becoming the evil mother-in-law (and I still may, I have one eligible child), but I was lucky enough to gain a wonderful son-in-law.

Who just sent me a combination of Christmas/Birthday/Mother's Day/Grandparent's Day/Hanukkah presents for the next sixteen years - his old laptop AND a brand-new Triple Format DVD-RW / CD-RW Mobile Slim Drive (which, as far as I understand it, gives more capability to the laptop than any other computer I have ever owned).

 

Yeah - it's easy to be a wonderful mother-in-law when you got a son-in-law like mine.