Women have strong intuition and can easily sense when something feels off, especially when another person shows too much interest in their partner. One woman shared her story on Reddit, wondering: are her pregnancy hormones causing her to overreact, or is something really wrong? You decide.
“I’m pregnant, 24 weeks. My husband and I were visiting his folks in their city the past week. It was fraught with problems, they are challenging people.
My BIL (28m) has been dating this woman, S (30f) for three years. At my wedding 1.5 years ago, she spent all her time with me telling me how lucky I am to have him. I said he was certainly wonderful, but then I laughed and joked that he was the lucky one.”
“Anyway, BIL and my husband don’t talk much, so we haven’t had any conversations with her ever since. When we visited last week, her and us ended up living at MIL’s place. It’s a small space, so things were tight.
I was on alert for any weird behavior. Well, apart from her babying him around, nothing inappropriate happened. We returned the day before yesterday.
She video-called me today. I was outside and couldn’t attend it. Anyway, I find abrupt video calls feel really invasive. When I called her back, on a regular audio call, she cut it.”
“She video-called me again and with the biggest smile on her face, yelled ’GUESS what I’m wearing!’ I stared stupidly at the screen and realized she was wearing my husband’s T-shirt. This T-shirt means a lot to us. We met over a dating app, it’s a striking shirt, and he was wearing it in his profile picture.
I remember sharing this story with the in-laws once, but can’t recollect if she was there and heard it. Anyways, I’m so annoyed. Her boyfriend has a million clothes at his mom’s place, so why couldn’t she just wear one of those? I find it so weird that she insisted on video-calling me whilst wearing my husband’s clothes.”
Users didn’t hold back in sharing their opinions on the situation.
- “Thank her for reminding her he left it there & be sure it is clean by next visit. Give her nothing, she is not worth a second of your concern. You got better things going, and really this is the saddest attention attempt.” Last-Mathematician97 / Reddit
- “Yes, you’re wrong. You’re giving her too much credit. She’s either trying to annoy you or thinks you’re closer than you realize. Either way, wasting any time being angry with her is futile.
Just nonchalantly say thanks for finding the shirt, please mail it back and I’ll send you the money. In other words, you being upset with her gives her the power she’s looking for. Don’t react anymore. The game will no longer be fun for her.” ButterscotchFluffy59 / Reddit - “She might not have realized the emotional significance of the t-shirt to you and your husband. If she wasn’t aware of the backstory, she might have just thought it was a nice piece of clothing. It could be helpful to communicate your feelings to her directly to clear up any misunderstandings.” _annnsophie / Reddit
- “Tell your husband to speak to his brother. This one weird woman you are dealing with!!”
Sure-Ingenuity6714 / Reddit
- “That’s definitely weird behavior from her. It’s understandable why you’re annoyed. She seems to be trying to mark her territory, and it’s disrespectful to you and your relationship with your husband.” Seductive_Virgina / Reddit
- “Tell your Husband. This is weird. Like she wants him.” WorkTerrible8635 / Reddit
- “I told him, he’s extremely put off by it. He wants to throw away the T-shirt now. He appears to be more concerned about my mental wellbeing and doesn’t want me to be stressed this late in the pregnancy.” SimilarSherbert1 / Reddit
- “That’s really weird of her. I’m assuming she didn’t ask your husband...? She needs a little talking to about how it’s not ok to rifle through other people’s belongings and keep what she wants.” tawstwfg / Reddit
- “He left the T-shirt there to be washed after wearing it the last day we were there. It appears she picked it up once it came back from the wash and simply put it on without conferring with anyone. Insofar as speaking to her about the issue is concerned, I wouldn’t even know how to begin the conversation.” SimilarSherbert1 / Reddit
- “Why is your BIL not stepping in? If someone I dated would so clearly drool over my friend or family member, I would just end the relationship. He is better being alone than with someone that disrespects him and his brother and his SIL.” United_Fig_6519 / Reddit
New mothers are protective yet vulnerable when setting boundaries with family. One Reddit user shared how her relationship with her SIL changed so much during pregnancy that she eventually blocked her from seeing the baby. Find out more in our article.