My in-laws always bad mouth my parenting style...

Mom, I just need to vent a bit... Why does my mother-in-law always make hurtful comments about everything I do for my child? She always seems to belittle and... well, suggest strange things. For example, from the moment my child was born, I didn't want to swaddle them too tightly. She used to get angry and say I didn't love my child, that their legs would become crooked... When my baby was around 3 or 4 months old, she insisted on giving my baby honey on their lips because she said their lips were dry... I clearly didn't allow it and got angry at her. But she said I was a cruel daughter-in-law and mother, and she would tell other relatives that I'm old-fashioned and weird. Isn't she the old-fashioned one? Now that my child has started eating solid food... she always criticizes the meals I cook. If my child doesn't want to eat, she says, "Well, who would want to eat that, it looks disgusting." Oh, I can't take it anymore...

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I wonder whether you can also try being vulnerable with her. Tell her frankly that her words are hurtful and make you feel very lousy as a woman, but say it in a way that suggest that she mustn't have meant it or she didn't know the impact of what she's saying or doing. Rather than going hard, sometimes going soft shows strength and control too.

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