Top Secrets of Being a Good In-law

How to be a Good Inlaw Being a good inlaw is like walking a tightrope without the security of a safety net, if you say too much or too little you fall off balance. Obviously, both can have serious consequences. Lately I've been seeing and hearing a lot of the results of poor inlaw behavior. Thankfully I can be proud to say-I have been above reproach. At least that's what my son-in-law told my daughter. So for the moment I can say, I am a good example of how to be a model mother-in-law. One friend shared with me her hurt at being totally forgotten on her birthday, again. In 18 years of marriage 90% of her inlaws had never even so much as called her on her special day. They had also not remembered to call her children on the days of their births. Mind you this included not just the aunts and uncles, but the grandparents and step-grandparents as well. She pointed this out to her spouse. 

In all these years they had been married she had made sure his family had always received, at the very least, a phone call and a card on these occasions, plus on their individual anniversaries. A family member of mine called and regaled that her mother-in-law had done the unthinkable-she bought a car from a dealership that had treated her son worse than dirt! In case you're wondering, this woman was at the agency and witnessed firsthand the treatment the young couple had endured. Both felt as if this woman deliberately stabbed them with a butcher knife. Especially since she had just paid off a car and had promised to help them buy furniture for the impending birth of her first grandchild with the money she was no longer putting out on a monthly basis. The mother-in-law in kind, thought they owed her an apology, leaving them a five minute tirade on their answering machine telling them just that! Five days later, the young couple have decided that maybe disowning the soon-to-be grandma would not be a bad thing to do.