14 Ordinary Days Ruined by Mothers-in-Law Who Should Be in Movies

Many mothers-in-law have a unique gift: the ability to turn an ordinary day into a cinematic masterpiece. Whether it’s an awkward comment, an unexpected visit, or an epic confrontation at the dinner table, these ladies can turn any moment into something worthy of a thriller or comedy. And it’s not like they write the scripts, no. They just have that special knack for ruining your day at the worst possible moment. If you ever thought your life was boring, all it takes is for your mother-in-law to show up and change the whole picture. Get ready to read some of the most surreal mother-in-law anecdotes that could literally be on the big screen.

• My boyfriend’s mom and dad helped us move into our new place, and she put all of my BF’s stuff (clothes, books, etc.) in one bedroom and all of mine in another. Then, really confused, she asked why we only brought one bed in the moving van and asked if we had ordered another one for him. No one had the heart to tell her. @Unknown author / Reddit
• My boyfriend and I do triathlons (which involve tight spandex shorts). His mom came to watch one of our races, and after the race, I looked through her photos and found one of my butt, zoomed in, centered, and clearly intentional. I figured my friend had taken her camera and taken the picture, which is weird enough on your mom’s camera. When I asked him about it, his mother, without any shame, explained that she had taken the photo because she liked my butt and wanted to show it to her husband and friends in the “old country”. @roo12357 / Reddit
• My (now ex) boyfriend and I had been saving up to go on a long road trip together. About a week before we were to leave, he told me that his mother had spent hours crying to him about how much debt she had and how she might have to take out a second mortgage on the house, sell precious family heirlooms, etc. So, being a good son, he decided to give her most of his money for the trip. I was sympathetic and we agreed to postpone the trip so he could save more. A few days later, I visited his mother and she showed me this huge, elaborate ceramic water fountain that she had bought the day before for her backyard. It was ridiculous. I muttered something like, “Must have been expensive.” She patted me on the shoulder and said, “Road trips are dangerous. It’s better this way.” @hazelk / Reddit

• My boyfriend lives with his parents. One night, his mom came up to me at dinner at her house and handed me a pair of cotton ladies’ underwear. I dropped them immediately. They weren’t mine. She gave me a pair of underwear in the middle of dinner because she found them in her laundry. It turns out they were his sister’s and she accidentally left them when she came to visit. Even if they were mine, why on earth would I leave them lying around? And why on earth would she hand them to me in the middle of dinner? @almanzo / Reddit
• My MIL decided to decorate my house while I was away taking care of my sick mother. Mind you, my house was already decorated. I collect antiques. I came home to find that she had put up decorations from the Hallmark store. The kicker was that she took all my dishes and put them in one set of cabinets and then bought her precious son his own set from Walmart and put them in his own special cabinet. I hate that woman. @_616_ / Reddit
• I was very poor and only had $20 to buy a dress for my fiancé’s aunt’s wedding. The only dress I could find for that price was black, but it was very conservative and pretty (and more importantly, on sale), so that’s what I ended up wearing. Sadly, at some point, my mother-in-law vehemently said, “WHO wears a BLACK DRESS to a WEDDING!” in front of the entire church. Fiance’s mom knew about my predicament (having to buy the dress was also pretty last minute, as I didn’t know I was going) so she defended me. @BlueHealer89 / Reddit

• My mother-in-law was brought up as a debutante. She strongly believes that women are only interested in fashion, jewelry, children, cooking, and being a housewife who has her husband’s dinner ready when he comes home from work. Women shouldn’t be interested in what men do for fun. Last summer, while my husband and his brothers were playing PS2 at her house, I was patiently waiting for my turn. Suddenly, she came out to get me so we could read old Country Woman magazines and have girl talk while the boys played their silly games. Also, when we moved into our apartment, she put all the non-perishable food on the bookshelf in the living room instead of in the kitchen. @goldy_locks / Reddit
• My mother in law told me that she didn’t understand why I came home every night in front of her son (my husband) and our two children. I told her I didn’t understand. So, very blatantly, she looked at me and told me that I had such a nice figure that if I were her, I would come home with a different man every night. @Forward_Role5334 / Reddit

• My husband and I didn’t go on an international family trip because we couldn’t afford the plane tickets, and I didn’t have the PTO after having back surgery earlier in the year. Even though we explained why we couldn’t go, my MIL and SIL decided my husband was lying. They proceeded to corner him while they were shopping for our wedding and tell him that they thought I was controlling, manipulative, and abusive because I wouldn’t let him go on the trip. @StandardJudge5209 / Reddit
• When my son was one week old he was hospitalized for jaundice, when my MIL drove us to the hospital she said it was obviously my fault for not feeding him enough and if he survived she should be his caretaker while I cried helplessly. My son was fine after two days, so I told my SO about this incident, he yelled at her for being awful, and since then she’s never touched or spoken to our baby. @SeniorSubstance7526 / Reddit
• After my daughter was born, my MIL asked if she and her best friend could come visit with the baby. I was reluctant because I’d heard her and her friend on the phone discussing how I was just another one of their son’s flings that would never work. However, I allowed it because I was newly postpartum and too excited about my newborn. I figured it would only be an hour. Anyway, my parents were here to help my fiancé and I with the new parenting life — cleaning, cooking, etc. Suddenly, my MIL’s best friend asked in front of everyone, “How’s your postpartum depression?” 1. I did not have postpartum depression. 2. She asked like it was a normal living room conversation. @ImpossibleField6833 / Reddit

• When I went into labor, I wasn’t dilated enough. Instead of having a C-section, they gave me Pitocin first. It didn’t work and then I had the procedure. When my MIL found out, she told me to my face that if she had been there, I would have had the C-section first and that I had put my son’s life at risk because I was thinking about myself and not him. To add insult to injury, she stayed with us for 10 days after the birth. This snake of a woman took my husband aside and told him he better watch me with the baby. @Some-Owl9916 / Reddit
• When I separated from my husband, his mother asked that I not be in my own home when she came to visit my 2-month-old baby. Whether I went outside or stayed hidden in a room... My baby is breastfed and her son hadn’t seen him for 1 month. So the only person taking care of my baby is me, he doesn’t know anyone else and she asked me to leave him with them. I said NO! My ex-husband was then scolded by a lawyer for being disrespectful to the woman who gave birth to his child and takes care of him day and night. @Saralm_123 / Reddit
• When I told my MIL that it would be just me and my husband in the delivery room, she replied, “I’ll just wait until you’re in labor. Then you won’t care who sees you.” When I clarified that I wasn’t worried about her seeing me, but that I just wanted my son to meet his parents first, she got super mad and told me that she was more excited about BIL’s baby (her 3rd) than ours (our 1st) because BIL would let her back in the room. Then when we found out I had to be induced 3 days early, she booked a flight the same day to fly 5,000 miles to be there. Then she was offended when we actually made her leave the room to push. Then she snuck back in and saw my sons face in front of me, along with the entire family she had on FaceTime. This is in addition to the time she ruined my proposal by telling me he was going to do it. And then repeating herself when I pretended I didn’t hear the first time. @Prestigious_Move8958 / Reddit

Mothers-in-law have a special ability to turn the simplest thing into a spectacle of intrigue, suspense, and drama. And if you thought your situation was unique, we are sure that after reading these stories you’ll be thankful that your mother-in-law isn’t so creative in the chaos. For more examples of how families can turn into horror movies, check out this article where we continue to analyze those uncomfortable moments we’d all like to forget.