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Don't snoop through people's things!
By Nia Tipton — Written on Dec 10, 2022
A woman had a rather unconventional solution to figuring out if her mother-in-law was snooping through her things.
She posted about the entire debacle to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA), a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument that has been bothering them.
In her Reddit post, the woman explained that since her mother-in-law moved in with her and her husband a month ago, she's noticed things have been touched and rearranged.
To catch her 'snooping' mother-in-law, she planted a fake pregnancy test in her bedroom.
After noticing that certain things in her bedroom were being touched, and the furniture was being rearranged, the woman, at first, thought she was going crazy.
"My husband is the only one who has access to the bedroom and he doesn't usually touch nor come near my things," she wrote.
It wasn't long before she realized that it was her mother-in-law that had been going through her personal items.
When she confronted her husband about it, he was adamant that his mother wouldn't do such a thing.
Despite the woman's hunch, she was unable to install a camera in her bedroom to catch her mother-in-law in the act, and instead, came up with a different plan.
She decided to plant a fake pregnancy test in her bedroom to see if her mother-in-law would notice it.
"I got one of those fake positive pregnancy tests and threw it in the bedroom's trashcan," she revealed, adding that the trashcan "was placed in the corner near the closet."
The very next day, while at work, the woman started receiving calls and texts from her inlaws congratulating her on her 'pregnancy.'
The news ultimately reached her husband, who went to her job in a flustered state, asking her why she didn't tell him that they were going to have a baby.
"I asked how he found out and he said his mom found the positive test in the trashcan in the bedroom."
When she pointed out that her husband's answer proved that his mother was snooping through their things, he rebutted that they should "stick to the bigger issue."
When she told him that the pregnancy test was fake and she only planted it there to catch his mother, her husband refused to believe her.
"He had me take an actual test right in front of him and he was livid asking how could I lie about such [a] thing and break his mom's heart since I know...very well that she longs for kids."
She concluded her post by saying that after planting the fake test, her mother-in-law and his family are calling her a "liar" and "manipulator."
Most people who commented on the woman's Reddit post agreed that she was NTA (Not The A-hole).
"Seems that you have several problems. The mother-in-law snooping is obvious," one user wrote.
"However, your husband is the bigger problem. He doesn’t seem to have any problem with his mother ignoring boundaries."
Another user added, "You didn't lie and broke no hearts. If [the] husband doesn't understand it, send this one away, together with his snooping mom."
"You didn't lie about anything. Even if the pregnancy test was real, you don't break other people's pregnancy news to other friends and family," a third user chimed in.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.