My MIL Purposely Excluded My Kids From Her Family Photo Album

Creating a blended family isn’t just about the couple and their kids coming together—it requires acceptance and effort from the entire extended family. Unfortunately, as this story shows, things don’t always go as smoothly as hoped. The protagonist’s mother-in-law’s actions raised questions, but there was more behind her choices than met the eye.

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People’s views are sharply divided.

• DON’T MARRY THIS MAN. Their behavior now won’t change once you’re married. Nothing will be different. Your girls will be excluded like this by his family forever. Ioloannd / Reddit
• If the girls are “the light of his life” he wouldn’t let his family treat them this way and would have nipped it in the bud the first time they were excluded with gifts. Everyone can spend their money as they see fit, but for someone that should be treating them as grandchildren should be more fair. Or else she doesn’t get to be in their lives. If they get married, guaranteed she regrets it, unless he has an epiphany before the wedding. Unknown author / Reddit
• Your fiancé will NOT have your back, and the treatment your daughters are getting now will only continue. I was in your daughters’ shoes when I was a kid and my dad was getting remarried, and thankfully we were accepted into the family events, photos, etc. by the time my dad was engaged to my stepmom. Key-Tensio / Reddit
• The real issue here is your fiancé’s lack of a spine to stand up to his mother. That will probably never change, so you’re walking into this coming marriage with your eyes wide open: If you marry this man, this will be your constant reality. Your daughters will continue to get ignored, and you will be pushed out of events. Unknown author / Reddit

• Your priority is your daughters, and it is your obligation as their mother to stand by and up for them and protect them from anybody who is hurting them, physically or emotionally. It’s exceptionally cruel to exclude children so young from gifts, trips, etc. Your fiancé needs to speak to his mother because it’s unfair to subject you and your children to that treatment the rest of your lives. You’re either family or not. shorething99 / Reddit
• I strongly suggest going no-contact with your in-laws until there is a promise of better behavior and an apology. What a cruel and entirely unnecessary thing to do to you and your young children.
  This woman has not been “forgetting” your girls, she’s been deliberately excluding them. It’s completely enraging. Your fiancé needs to step up and draw some really hard lines with his mother, and it needs to happen BEFORE the wedding. Trick_Doughnut_6295 / Reddit
• I’m probably going to get downvoted for this, but familial bonds don’t just magically appear, and she’s not obligated to spend money on your children. Purposely excluding them from the picture book is kinda bad when you were included as well. If you really marry into the family, she’s gotta learn at some point that your children will be part of the family as well, and your fiancé should absolutely make it clear to her now before you get married. KoishiChan92 / Reddit

• To be honest, I kinda get her point. Have you given her a chance to bond with them? I don’t have kids myself, but I understand that you’re upset that your kids are excluded... But they have their own grandparents to include them in everything and spoil them...
  I wouldn’t expect their step-grandparents to include them in everything they include their grandkids. I think it’s more important how your fiancé treats them, do you think he would treat them differently than any bio kids you might have? benerises19 / Reddit
• I am surprised by the comments on this post. I am a stepdaughter. My dad started living with his now-wife when I was 10. Married her when I was 12.
  I certainly didn’t think my stepmother’s mom was my grandmother before they were married. I didn’t even consider my stepmother to be my stepmother before they were married. And I liked her just fine. But she was my dad’s girlfriend. That was it.
  Her mom was my dad’s girlfriend’s mom. Not getting them cards or gifts for Christmas is not good. Every kid who is at one of my family’s gatherings gets at least a gift card. Even if it’s a neighbor’s exchange student. melodypowers / Reddit
• First, your expectations are rather high. Specifically, you are an “in-law” until the law is involved, and no law is involved until the marriage is official. Expecting your relation to be considered by the extended family as fully cemented is a little, and I stress little because this is a time to be building those commitments, out of sorts.
  Second, the photo album is your mother-in-law’s photo album, and she can put whatever photos in it that she wants. Making a dramatic exit probably did more harm than good, and may have even created a rift that could last for years. Should have put the book down and told your children something like, “Oh, we had to reprint our photos. They got damaged.” Then taken this to your fiancé and made it clear that if your kids aren’t accepted as his children by his family, the relationship has big problems. j***droid2018 / Reddit

Family photo albums are more than just a way to collect memories—they’re a nostalgic trip and a source of fun, filled with treasured moments and gems from the past.