6 Real Women Reveal Their Biggest Ever In-Law Dramas

The Religious Condition
“I don’t consider myself very religious, which is why it didn’t matter to me that my husband is Jewish and I was raised Catholic. So when my future mother-in-law told me at my bridal shower that she thought I’d make ‘the perfect bride for her son… if I was Jewish,’ I was a bit dumbfounded. And when I told her that David, my husband, isn’t religious himself, she said he was ‘going through a rebellious phase.’ He was 32. It took the next four years and the two baptisms she refused to attend before we had an open and honest conversation about how to move past this snag. Ironically, my kids identify as Jewish and are more religious than any of us.”

The Gutter Ball 
“My extremely easygoing mother-in-law had a completely out-of-character meltdown leading up to our wedding rehearsal dinner. She and my father-in-law had offered to pay the bill and said we could have it anywhere we wanted...until one month out when she decided she'd prefer to host our rehearsal at a bowling alley instead of the restaurant we'd already paid for. Not only that, she wanted to invite both our entire families, which would have turned our 30-person dinner into a 125-person mini-wedding. She called my husband crying for weeks on end, but we didn't budge. It's still a sore subject—and an inside joke—but we’ve moved past it. Of course I'll never look at a bowling alley the same way.” 

Seating Derangement
“My mother-in-law threw a complete hissy fit at my wedding because I didn't seat her across from her son. She wound up making such a scene that my now-husband was forced to miss half our dinner trying to calm her down.”

The MIL Has No Clothes
“When I had my daughter, I had a whole plan for the outfit I wanted her to wear home from the hospital. It was Jacadi—gorgeous. I talked about it non-stop. I guess my mother-in-law wasn't listening, because she showed up at the hospital with a totally different outfit she had picked out and expected the baby to wear it home. She was hurt that I didn't want to use hers, and I was beyond annoyed that she couldn't respect my choice. Needless to say, we went with my outfit. I have the pictures to prove it.” 

Bloody Relatives
“I’m an only child, and my husband is one of three kids. I’d always hoped his tight-knit family would embrace me, but no matter how hard I try, it’s still pretty clear they see me as an outsider. In fact, a few years ago at Thanksgiving, his sister gathered everyone together for a group photo, handed me her phone to take the shot and said, ‘Let’s get one with family only.’ So yeah, that happened.”

A Tale as Old as Time
“My mother-in-law wore a white dress to my wedding.”