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Grandparenting

Nightmare DIL

(131 Posts)
Granincharge Thu 25-Jun-20 16:20:21

Hi everyone, I was directed here by my friend who I regularly vent my frustrations on. It’s such a difficult situation and I was hoping for some advice...

My son and DIL have been married 7 years.. together double that. We’ve never got on amazingly but have always been ok, civil and happy to see each other.

Since they’ve had my 3 grandchildren, I feel increasingly pushed out. We used to live 6 hours away (but have moved closer to my daughter and so are now 1.5 hours away from them. ) We have strict rules they set out for us:
-We are no longer allowed to stay the night. Apparently there’s not enough room .. The room we used to sleep in they’ve move the eldest son into as soon as baby 3 came . When my husband told DIL that the kids wouldn’t need their own rooms immediately, she was rude to him and they got rid of the double bed anyway.

-They won’t stay the night at ours - they say it’s too much hassle bringing everything - they usually just come a few hours for lunch .. that’s it!!
Thanks
- We’re not allowed to babysit - this comes after we babysat my grandson and DIL and my son claim we got drunk (they went through their recycling and counted the empty bottles And exaggerated how much we’d drunk, making us out to be irresponsible for having a few glasses of wine when he was asleep!)

- DIL refuses to come on holidays with us. We want a big holiday with family friends but DIL says she doesn’t want to take her kids away with people she barely knows which I think is really rude. She knows them and doesn’t make a great deal of effort. As a large family we’re really sociable and she’s not - This can be quite embarrassing at family events to be honest.

-Dil is just awfully possessive over the kids. I feel like I can’t do anything. They’re not allowed to do or eat certain things

-Christmas and other occasions are regimental - we are allowed to visit at this time for this long. When my kids were young we spent a week away at relatives Over Christmas and I would love for my grandchildren to wake up in my house on Christmas morning to relive some of this but we’re being denied this with the offer of going to theirs for lunch ( then having to drive home is no drinking), them coming to our house but only for lunch so they can then go see her parents , or seeing them Christmas Eve or Boxing Day instead.

I just feel Me and my husband are being treated like second class citizens and I haven’t been able to recreate any things I did with my family when my kids were growing up (big long family get togethers etc )

- not allowed to put photos on social media!! We have a couple of times where you can’t see the children much and have been told off by son (obviously controlled by DIL)

- My son got really annoyed when he found out 2 years ago that we paid for my daughter’s wedding (as is tradition) But not his. He Claimed we always treat them unfairly which is not the case and this has definitely come from DIL
The latest now is the social distancing with covid 19. My DIL is loving denying me my cuddles with my grandchildren!!
Any advice? Apart from counting down the days til my daughter gives me more grandchildren?

Thank you!

MawB Fri 26-Jun-20 09:32:23

Somebody must be very bored - or inventive!

paddyanne Fri 26-Jun-20 12:34:15

It is unfair to pay for one childs wedding and not the other ,surely you could have at least offered part of the cost if you knew you were paying all your daughters wedding.Its outdated now to ppay for a daughters wedding,most couples pay for their own and make all the decisions and in my opinion thats how it should be .I've worked in the wedding industry for over 50 years and it good to see couples having the weddings THEY want not dictated to by parents

Judy54 Fri 26-Jun-20 13:56:43

Dear Granincharge have you learnt nothing from the responses here? You say " If she gets all her way, doesn't that make her selfish". What about if you get all your way doesn't that make you selfish too! "she is possessive and won't stray from anything she wants to do" Likewise you can be seen as possessive because you won't stray from what you want to do. "I cam here for advice on how I can get her to see things my way a bit more" The advice given is how to see things her way a bit more. Have you hear of the C word it is called compromise, you should give it a try. May be it is time to stop this thread now as we are losing patience with you.

PinkCakes Fri 26-Jun-20 15:12:02

What a thick-skinned, stubborn, selfish granny the OP must be - if indeed she actually exists. I think it must be a wind-up. Nobody could be that stupid, could they?

Chewbacca Fri 26-Jun-20 15:37:40

I can't imagine any one necking a couple of bottles of wine, whilst being solely responsible for young children and thinking that it's "fine"! The mental images it conjures up are staggering.

MissAdventure Fri 26-Jun-20 15:41:57

I think that's the general idea.

NotSpaghetti Fri 26-Jun-20 15:56:29

Well, if it IS real, Blinko you have given some kind and generous and helpful advice.
If the original poster reads just one more answer, I hope it's yours.

Granarchist Fri 26-Jun-20 18:08:35

huge wind up - has to be - hope she enjoyed wasting everyone's time in this heat. If its not a wind up I would love to know what the person who directed her to this site thinks of the whole palaver.

Jaycee5 Fri 26-Jun-20 18:23:32

Why did you choose the name that you have used?
Either it is a wind up or you wanted people to think it is. Otherwise there would be no reason to choose a dragon name.

rjack Fri 26-Jun-20 18:28:14

Once family grow up and leave the nest it is their lives not yours. Take a back seat and let them do their own thing then they will maybe come back to you. You can,t live your life through your children. Occupy yourself with things to do.

TerriBull Fri 26-Jun-20 19:30:58

I suppose the OP on line name is an indicator of her mindset, "entitled grandparent" oozing out of every pore, or just a wind up! As John McEnroe was prone to exclaim "you cannot be serious!" shock I mean you really can't be with statements such as these "I would love my grandchildren to wake up in my house on Christmas morning" or "DIL refuses to go on holiday with us WE (being the operative word) want a big holiday with family friends" Thick skinned, lacking judgement or empathy an all round shocker!

Such a conundrum deserves to be treated by the fiercest of MNetters imo.

annodomini Fri 26-Jun-20 21:20:02

My friends with grandchildren have daughters, not daughter in laws so they don’t have to deal with what I do

I have two sons and two DiLs and I've never had to 'deal with' anything. They have never been anything but my friends.

The post reads like a list of all the things DiLs have said on these forums about their nightmare MiLs. The very name, Granincharge, says it all. Time to admit that you are not 'in charge',

FlyingSolo Fri 26-Jun-20 22:32:41

Callistemon. I love your post at 08.12 this morning. Probably not so funny if people don't know the original rhyme but yes, I think you are right. I like it

BlueBelle Fri 26-Jun-20 22:43:29

Is this still going ?

Blinko Sat 27-Jun-20 11:46:37

Thank you, NotSpaghetti. Must admit I was beginning to feel rather foolish to have been taken in...

Callistemon Sat 27-Jun-20 12:02:27

FlyingSolo

Callistemon. I love your post at 08.12 this morning. Probably not so funny if people don't know the original rhyme but yes, I think you are right. I like it

I used to take little DGC in turn to a music and movement group when I looked after them and that was one song they loved.
However, it was known by DS as 'wind the parents up'
grin

moggie57 Sat 27-Jun-20 12:08:40

well they are her children .not yours ...do you know i have never stayed at my daughters nor have my grandchildren stayed at my flat .even though i got a spare bedroom .they come for a day each week in the holidays .but they never stayed over..yes i feel hurt ,but they are my daughters children not mine, and they have their way of doing things .dontr say anything hurtful as you may end up losing seeing your grandchildren.

Toadinthehole Sat 27-Jun-20 12:14:33

Oh my goodness, you sound like my late MIL. There is so much wrong with your post, I don’t know where to start. Or perhaps I do....your username says it all. I haven’t read any other posts, so if this has been said over and over, I apologise. Just read your post back to yourself, and ask, would you have wanted a MIL like this?? My husband says...’ don’t blame your DIL, your son is happy with this, because he needs to get away from an overbearing mother.’ He had a similar childhood to the one you describe, and it wasn’t all fun. I do hope you take this seriously, otherwise you’re in danger of estrangement, as we were from my in laws for twenty plus years.

TerriBull Sat 27-Jun-20 12:23:07

If indeed Granny in charge was genuine, I don't know how it didn't occur to her that she is steam rolling over her daughter in law's desire to parent in her way, accusing her of being possessive with her own children. Expecting her to want to holiday with their friends and other members of the family, I mean just why would you for heaven's sake, I can't imagine ever wanting to go on holiday with my late parents-in-law, stuff of nightmares shock If you are out there OP, let this poor young woman be her own person and stop forcibly encroaching on her territory. As a paternal grandparent, yes you are down the pecking order somewhat, but lets face it we've all had our turn at parenting, it's not our time anymore. You honestly get reasonable access, read some of the "cut out of their lives" threads literally no contact, sometimes for years.

Toadinthehole Sat 27-Jun-20 12:38:35

Now we’ve read all the responses, it’s got to be a wind up?. TWO BOTTLES OF WINE!!!!! I’d pass out, and my husband would be so silly, he’d be useless too!?. It’s been fun though. The only worrying thing is, it is real for some people....us for one. We had a difficult 25 years from age 16 to about 40, where we were very sporadic in how much we saw them. My husband found it difficult, because although he could see the total dysfunction, they were still his mum and dad. We finally closed the door on them twenty years ago, and it was a great relief.

V3ra Sat 27-Jun-20 12:38:59

I can well believe this thread is genuine.

There are a lot of similarities to my own mother-in-law in the early years of our marriage. We had the added complication of my in-laws divorcing and the battles for attention that brought.

They lived a distance away and after yet another fraught weekend stay trying to please both of them, my husband declared he had had enough and we weren't going there again.
I didn't say a word but was secretly relieved.

She was the matriarch who was used to getting her own way, likewise backed up by a close group of friends.
Things have resolved but it involved us (me) standing our ground and not allowing ourselves to be manipulated.

We have a great relationship now.
We've also been on many holidays together!

Granincharge you need to BACK OFF.
Trust that your son has made a wise choice in his wife and show them some respect.
You WILL be the loser otherwise.

oodles Sat 27-Jun-20 12:53:34

And sending a friend to intercede with your DIL on your behalf, how would you like it if she sent a friend round to tell you to back off from wanting your own way and stop drinking so much wine.

Hithere Sat 27-Jun-20 14:49:16

This post could be real or not
However, the actions in them are sadly not as unusual as we would wish

Some of this key phrased are repeated in other posts with less details so the mil looks less guilty and pushy
- overprotective
- we have to stay in a hotel when we visit
- they only spend x time with us and it is not enough
- my friends see their kids more/babysit/etc
- the universal comment - we got along till she had the baby

FlyingHandbag Sat 27-Jun-20 16:44:32

This situation is entirely your own fault. Drinking that much in front of a child is deplorable, what would have happened had you fallen asleep and the house caught fire? If I drank that much I would be on the floor.

Furthermore, you say that your friends have daughters and not daughters-in-law even though you mentioned your daughter's wedding.

You need to make drastic changes if you want to keep your relationship with your son and grandchildren. X

maydonoz Sun 28-Jun-20 13:40:30

Yes I too can't believe this a genuine post but you are getting lots of reaction anyway.
I think you need to take a step back, in fact a few a d allow your children to breathe and decide how they want to bring up their children. If you offer support or advice only when they ask for it, you will find that you are appreciated more.
Furthermore, for your own personal development, having a new interest/hobby may help to take your mind off family issues. Good luck!