Woman Finally Puts Mother-In-Law In Her Place After Being Publicly Shamed For Not Having Kids
Her mother-in-law said she was "humiliated."
ViDI Studio | Shutterstock Another day, another story about a monster mother-in-law. Where would we be without all this family drama? One woman on Reddit would certainly be a whole lot happier. She turned to the internet for advice, questioning if she was wrong for standing up for herself after her mother-in-law made rude assumptions about her in public because she was upset that she hadn't given her any grandchildren.
Finally taking a stand, the woman said that her mother-in-law was reduced to tears, and now the family is making her feel guilty for embarrassing a woman who has been making her feel bad about herself with her snide comments and "intrusive" questions for years.
A woman is worried she was wrong for publicly putting her mother-in-law in her place.
In her Reddit post, the woman explained that while dining out at a restaurant, her mother-in-law decided to introduce her to a table of acquaintances as "her career-obsessed daughter-in-law who thinks work is more important than family." Delightful, right?
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The woman was understandably upset, and after dealing with these comments for years, she snapped. "I was mortified that strangers now think I'm some heartless career woman. I loudly corrected her: 'Actually, we've been trying for 2 years and have had 3 miscarriages, but thank you for sharing our private medical information with strangers,'" she recalled. The table immediately went silent, and her mother-in-law became extremely embarrassed.
She was later cornered by her extremely upset mother-in-law.
After the dinner, her mother-in-law was reduced to tears as she argued that she was humiliated by the encounter. She claimed that she had no idea about the miscarriages, insinuating that if she had, she would've never said that. However, she pointed out that her mother-in-law has been making comments about her "biological clock" for some time now.
For years, she's asked invasive questions of her daughter-in-law without any thought of how she felt. Now, once the tables were turned, she was "humiliated?" It's hard to find sympathy for her.
Despite feeling the need to defend herself, the woman's husband didn't feel the same way. He argued that she should've just pulled his mother aside and talked to her about the matter privately. But it's easier to do that if the person who's making these disparaging comments genuinely cares about your feelings.
Women should never have to explain or defend themselves when it comes to the topic of having children.
Family planning is a personal topic meant only for the people involved in creating any possible children. This is especially true when fewer women are choosing to have families in the first place. According to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly 47% of U.S. adults younger than 50 without kids said they were unlikely to have children. Some of the reasons why people are not having kids vary, including 40% of the older group saying parenthood "just never happened," while the majority of the younger group without kids (57%) said they “just don’t want to” have children.
This woman's mother-in-law had plenty of opportunities to respect the woman's boundaries, but she chose not to. It's natural to be excited about the prospect of grandchildren, but there's a fine line between expressing that and becoming this woman who would rather publicly shame her son's wife than behave like a loving adult.
You truly never know what other people might be going through, which is why it's important to mind your own business. In this case, her mother-in-law could've learned this information if she had toned down the constant commentary and criticism and instead approached her daughter-in-law and son with a bit more compassion and understanding.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
