Inlaws: is it too early?

Mine live in China, because they are Chinese, and don’t come over here. They also speak no English; this relationship works rather well.

Hmm, never imagined an in-laws thread on STW but oh well, here we go!

No parents-in-law this year. Have been estranged from them for over two years. FiL I got on well with, retd high-ranking air force officer, but now very aged and not much with it. MiL… never met anyone like her, total effing psychopath who abuses and humiliates everyone in her family. We’re not in the UK and here there are laws regarding grandparents accessing grandchildren, i.e. they have an automatic right unless there are extenuating circumstances. Well, there are. Really can’t face recounting everything but at one point I had to visit the police station to make a report (not a ‘complaint’ but more of an official note) against her for harassment, trespass and psychological violence. She got a lawyer so we had to get one too and, to cut a very very long story short, as MiL had put all her rants and threats in writing our lawyer (working pro bono as we aren’t well off) put an almighty shot across her bows and we’ve had something near peace since we moved away in mid 2014. Oh, and MiL doesn’t know where we live or else she’d make hell for us here too.

Incidentally, it was after this move, out of the city, that I got back into mountain biking so I suppose there is even some relevance to STW! Just my mum and her husband for Christmas, so no great party, and I’m sure a little tiring for my wife, but for pissed up board games we’ll be fine.

p.s. I’m sure there’ll be some naysayers but really, I’ve just never had to deal with anyone so cruel and manipulative before. MiL was out to destroy our marriage and remove me as our childrens’ father (denouncing me at the school for malnutrition, violence and sexually inappropriate behaviour, needless to say the school did not act even though I told them to take whatever measures they needed to for them to be confident in me). MiL does stuff like this to all three of her daughters and their partners, so not like we’re paranoid.

I agree, drinking through it helps, it’s the only answer to the boredom of having to watch the misery of Eastenders on xmas day with equally miserable people.

Christ! Never mind drinking through it. Eastenders would have me on the Class A’s

Mudshark – feel my pain.

I live in China.
My MIL has lived with us for 6 years.

FIL has been having the time of his life for the last 6 years, and reminds me of it, when I see him twice a year. Secretly, whilst we have a beer or two together.

Christmas is no change. Just slightly more alcohol fuelled.

My in-laws are great. Treated me more like a son than my parents ever did.
Took the MIL Xmas shopping yesterday for all the xmas food, she will cook on Xmas day for all of us. Really looking forward to it.
The FIL is a good old boy who has great stories. He is a retired headmaster who did his national service with Naval Intel as he could speak fluent russian (Cold War era). A real gentleman. 😀

My MIL will also be bringing her partner, who is a bin man, will open cans of fosters at breakfast time, enjoys watching CBeebies and comes out with gems such as ‘this time last year it was christmas day’ (an actual quote, he said it with no irony)

We will pop round to my in laws on Christmas afternoon to exchange presents, we had them over them over for the day last year, but my MIL insisted on arriving so early that I ended up having to cook lunch under her…..’critical’ eye! So this year we will go round once we have had a chilled day!

Boxing day we have a tradition that we don’t leave the house, everyone can stay in PJ’s and watch all the tv/play with toys that didn’t happen on the actual day. We have a buffet out all day so we can pick and choose when to eat and it is absolutely just us! TBH it is my favourite day of the year 😀

Then on the 27th……it is the in-laws family gathering…..I will be drinking!

I live in China.
My MIL has lived with us for 6 years.

Eek! So what’s the FIL up to?

Apparently I can’t take a bike.

Curious, I’m at the in laws from Xmas till the 28th. I’m under strict instruction to take the bike. We normally do Xmas at home so looking forward to someone else doing the work whilst I can chill.

Real MiL dead, Real FiL a lovely bloke but frail and elderly and in a home and wouldn’t want to see me because I left his Daughter.

Partners Dad & Mum are pretty good – seeing them on Boxing Day.

My mum… becoming more selfish, weak and now beginning to become demented…
My Dad – somewhere in Ireland, I suspect on the pull… aged 83.

So In-Laws, official or otherwise, have tended to be easier than my parents.

gaidong
Really can’t face recounting everything… Oh, and MiL doesn’t know where we live or else she’d make hell for us here too.

That’s really at a whole new level. Thankfully Mrs gaidong is (I presume) on your ‘team’. I hope you find posting here cathartic.

Hmm, never imagined an in-laws thread on STW…

Background reading (“He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it.”)

I N L A W S at Christmas (2014)

I N L A W S (2013)

Fortunately “inlaw-free” this year. However FWIW, we used to use ‘Do Not Cross’ crime-scene tape to keep Mil / Fil / or any other ‘knows best’ type relatives from interfering in the kitchen.
(I’ve even seen this for sale in a high-end cookware shop.)

A few reports of quality FiLs passing away…I hope they are all spending xmas day in heaven drinking port and smoking cigars whilst the still alive MiL brings hell upto earth for the day.
(Apologies to the quality MiLs in advance)

Not looking forward to it, Mrs M felt obligated to invite her parents over, so it’ll be a story of spilt red wine, weird conversations started by FiL and MiL expecting to be waited on hand and foot because she’s to drunk and lazy ill to get off the sofa to help herself. FiL will then try to drive home after 2-3 bottles of wine………

Happy days………

We’re of the MiL and FiL on Christmas day for shed loads of food, good Port and a nap on the sofa. Mine are good fun actually, they drink like fish, are a touch inappropriate at times but generally good company. They also don’t mind when we make excuses and leave early.

@Sand, “That’s really at a whole new level. Thankfully Mrs gaidong is (I presume) on your ‘team’. I hope you find posting here cathartic.”

I know it sounds dramatic but these situations exist, and far worse of course. Mrs Gaidong is with me but it took a long time, mainly as I working overseas alone for years and couldn’t really fight my corner. We’re really happy now but it does require keeping MiL at full arm’s length, there can be no respite. MiL does have some qualities, like incredible energy for someone her age!

Merry Christmas one and all!
Gaidong

I’ve just arrived at mine, I was annoyed on the way up.

Bike it is then tomoz, innit 😆

Only downside is my mum can’t stand a bit of silence and has to fill every moment with inane chatter about relatives I last saw 40 odd years ago. We just drink and glaze over by about 4pm!

Going to the inlaws tonight for three days, with a wedding on Boxing Day*. Luckily I live in Finland and Finns don’t talk a great deal. But I’ve bought some nice gin and vermouth. A few martinis each should sort that out.

*who the hell gets married on Boxing day? And expects people to cancel their plans?!

I find that when the MIL visits, it has a great effect on my training schedule.

any excuse to get out on the bike for a few hours, a great incentive at this time of year.
Return home, shower, clean bike, washing kit, beer on the sofa and snooze.

She is never amused with this, bit I find it the only way to cope with the daft old bat.

To be fair the MIL isnt too bad and the FIL is with gis new wife. The issue is the sister in law, lazy as hell, so lazy she leaves all her fag butts in the garden for me to clear up.

My mother in law is unfortunately the yammering type.
Favourite topic (especially over dinner) is all her latest medical issues – the lower digestive tract being explained in great detail.
Then she moves onto all her friends medical problems.
And finally an exhaustive list of everyone in the village who has died in the last year, and what of.
I can’t wait…

The Pinks yours are obviously OK.

Mine thankfully live close enough that they don’t need to stay over. My FIL is a morbidly obese UKIP Councillor and a bully who likes to intimidate people, he’s the boss end of! we’ve not got on from day one! not a single opinion in common and never will frankly.
The MIL is a meek and mild cooking and cleaning machine for the above I don’t think she has a single opinion of her own just those of the FILs. Such as earlier this year blaming the presence of a police car at a local shop on the recently moved in “Darkies” while in the car with me my wife and our 3 year old son, she didn’t mean it maliciously at all just casual racism picked up from the FIL. I immediately set her straight on that one, which she just shrugged off and chuckled about like it was fine and normal.

I have to say they have been great baby sitting of late (well the MIL primarily he plays here and there but buggers off down the pub or out once his 5 mins of patient run out) with me being in hospital even coming round and dropping my wife off at hospital at 5am etc. when I went to intensive care for a few weeks about a month back. I just hope nothing like that gets said around our son. unfortunately he can do no wrong in my wife’s eye, at least nothing that that does any more than put her in a bad mood for more than a few days, and he’s been pretty nasty to her several times over the years, it’s just take take take with him everyone always owes him a favour pretty rare for anyone to get a favour from him that’s not one sided. You lend him something you deliver and collect, he lends you something (rare) you collect and deliver asap.

don’t know how my wife is so amazing bar her FIL blind-spot.

MIL and partner are inbound tonight, staying for about a week.

My tongue-biting will start once the wine starts flowing on Christmas Day probably. Both are UKIP voters, and openly mock anyone not a white, heterosexual Anglo-Saxon, as they are clearly all wasters, scoundrels, benefits-whatever…..aaarrgh.

I can see trouble ahead!

Well my oh my..

The worst thing about being at the inlaws???

Watching BBC1.

What an unholy pile of shite.. 😕

kicked out of my bed

Can’t park on my own drive

at least they’re good at cooking and will help the wife while I get squiffy

I’m going to be marinating in Titanic Plumb Porter and Ghost Ship IPA all day, absolutely nothing will phase me 8)

For those souls unfortunate enough to endure more than a couple of days, enjoy your annual Daily Mail catch-up.

My MIL will also be bringing her partner, who is a bin man, will open cans of fosters at breakfast time, enjoys watching CBeebies and comes out with gems such as ‘this time last year it was christmas day’ (an actual quote, he said it with no irony)

He sounds like a good guy to pair up with some of the yammerers.

I don’t talk much. I need people like him to keep the chatty Cathys entertained.

cbeebies ehh the seating plan and afternoon viewing should reflect this! a plastic beaker of Fosters for the simple one, then put the telly on for him and the rest of the kids.

10 days in Germany for me with the in-laws, thankfully they speak as much English as I do German. Nice weissbier haze

To Bad news,

whilst the still alive MiL brings hell upto earth for the day.

This had me in tears. Thanks!

I’m away at work for Xmas and the only thing I’m sad about missing will be the kids seeing the tree on Xmas morning.

Like many folks on here, my IL’s are two people I really won’t miss.

So things have already kicked off here. Relatively complicated story but Mil has now been banned, by us, from travelling to see us this Christmas. Epic eastenders style family blow up, before the festivities even started

On call over Christmas was a good enough excuse for myself and my partner to avoid everything and enjoy a quiet christmas doing just what we want. No alcohol is the one downside though 🙁

For those souls unfortunate enough to endure more than a couple of days, enjoy your annual Daily Mail catch-up.

Daily Express catch up here. Had to block FiL on Facebook – too many Britain First shares. Happily the kids are old enough and smart enough to let it wash over them.

My cat knocked over my tea cup 🙁

I’m single 🙂

No in laws, a definite upside to being single.

It’s the first Christmas not involving any kind of family so it’s round to a mates for a bbq and the c word is banned.

mrsfry – Member
My cat knocked over my tea cup
I’m single

Just the one cat?

No inlaws here, and my sister is now divorced so I don’t have to interact with her frankly horrid ex-in-laws. So it will be me, my parents, my sister and her two children on xmas day.
Oh and the cat, which is also getting increasingly mischievous.

Loving this thread but wondering what the kids of those moaning will be saying about them in years to come 😆

The Sith Hound has just wee’d against our fake Xmas tree. Mrs M in her best angry/”disappointed in you” Teacher voice is in the process of reading him the riot act, I’m frightened.

Just the one cat?

2 cats
6 snakes

Can we get married on a cruise ship (i have no more patio space)