If you are reading this article, then I’m sure that you have thought more than once about how to get rid of your mother in law. They can be so annoying, interfering, and overbearing. Tragically they also can end up ruining your marriage. You should know, though, that believe it or not, it IS possible to fix up your relationship with your mother in law.
In this article I’m going to show you 3 ways to better your relationship with her, by focusing on small things and not trying to tackle the whole problem all at once. It is going to take a lot of work and time to fix things up but for the benefit of you, your husband and your children, it needs to be done.
1. Circumvents resistance. Mother in laws can be set in their ways. No matter how good your intentions are to better your relationship with your “dear” mother in law it “takes two to tango”. She is probably too scared to improve the relationship. If you start by doing only small things she won’t even notice that things are getting better, until it’s too late and…before she even realizes it, she has started to like you.
2. It’s done better. To focus on baking only one dessert instead of 3 desserts usually results in a much tastier pie. When you focus on too many things each project gets in the way of the other one. It’s the same way when it comes to improving your relationship with your mother in law. Pick one small area to improve and then move on.
3. Instant gratification. It isn’t easy to deal with some mother in laws and it could take a long time to finally have a working relationship with yours. Therefore, if you go for the “big kill” and look only at the end rosy relationship you may end up getting frustrated before you manage to get there and give up. By looking at the small things you will stay motivated and you will keep on going until you get there, step by step.
It will not seem like such a big, overwhelming task if you take it day by day and plan to make one small change to your relationship.
It could be that your mother in law just wants to be more of a part in the decisions of your family.
She wants to feel valued and appreciated.
Try to look past her attitude or the way she comes across, and read into what she could be meaning. For example, if she likes to tell you how to dress your children. Maybe you could ask her opinion about a suitable hair cut or hair design for your daughter. Or ask if she would like to go shopping for some cute little bows and ribbons. She will get to feel appreciated, listened to, and valued, while you still get the ultimate say in the clothes and what your daughter will look like overall.
