Living under the same roof with your in-laws is rarely a walk in the park. One woman turned to Reddit to share an unusual habit of her mother-in-law that was causing her concern. She was upset because whenever she went to the bathroom, her mother-in-law would walk in. This sparked a discussion about the importance of setting limits and having personal space when living together.
So, my MIL (I’m a girl, btw) came to stay with us for a few weeks, til her home is renovated. The problem is that she has been randomly walking in on me while I’m in the bathroom. Thankfully, not once has she seen me naked because I started picking up on her behavior after the second time in a week.
She’d barge in, then turns and says, «Oh sorry», then close the door. I tried talking to my husband about it, but he kept ignoring me, then said, «So what if she has accidentally seen you naked? She’s family!» He seriously said that!
We have a lock and I could’ve used it, but I have past trauma from the idea of being locked in a room after my brother locked me in the bathroom when I was 5.
So I came up with this idea. I’d go inside the bathroom pretending to use it and wait for her to come (cause honestly? It’s deliberate at this point). When she «accidentally» barges in, she’d see me in a weird position. For example, doing a ballet stand, standing on the toilet, or standing facing the wall with my hands up, fully clothed of course.
I could see how awkward and weird this would be for her because she’d stand there for a few seconds trying to figure out what I was doing. It was hilarious at first seeing her initial confusion, but she told my husband about it, claiming «she’s caught me practicing rituals in the bathroom». I cleared things up and revealed the reason why.
My husband called me childish and said that I made his mom feel «terrified» by my behavior. He said I should’ve acted maturely and locked the door instead of playing games.
My husband and his mom are extremely upset with me. He still thinks it was ridiculous and is demanding an apology before she goes back to her home. I’m not sure if I will apologize. While it was a «me problem» that I couldn’t use the lock, it still feels wrong what she did. Maybe I’m wrong, too, but at least I got a bit of a chuckle out of it.
Relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law might sometimes get complicated. One woman, who has been a housewife her entire life, shared a story about how her daughter-in-law thinks she’s lazy simply because she doesn’t go to work. This woman believes that doing chores and taking care of a family is the most important job and is upset that her daughter-in-law doesn’t understand her.
We have a hard and fast rule at our house (M70, F71). If a door, any door, is closed you knock loudly and wait 15 seconds for a reply. If no reply, repeat. If still no reply, you may enter. If you fail to follow the rule, you're immediately outta here until you're invited back. This applies to family & friends, and we make sure any visitors/contractors know and follow that rule.
Perhaps make a sign saying OPEN and CLOSED or VACANT and OCCUPIED and hanging it on the outside of the door?
