“I (33F) really need some perspective on this.
So, my MIL has always hated my parenting. She says things like, “You’re a failed mother,” and she’s constantly sticking her nose into every little family thing. I usually try to ignore it, but it’s exhausting.
Recently, my husband insisted that she join us on a family trip. I wasn’t thrilled, but I went along. On the second day, my 4-year-old suddenly started vomiting. Naturally, I freaked out.
Then MIL did the most shocking thing. She smiled and said, “It’s because I gave him a lesson in manners. He was speaking disrespectfully to me, and I raised my voice—probably too much. He was too shocked. Poor thing must have had a nervous breakdown because his mommy hasn’t taught him proper manners in proper ways!”
The world stopped. My son was shaking, wiping bile from his mouth, tears streaming down his face, and she was smiling about it? She was proud that she had screamed at a toddler until he became physically ill?
I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry. A cold, dangerous calm washed over me. I turned to my husband, Mark, who was standing there, pale as a ghost. He looked from his shaking son to his smiling mother. ‘Did you hear that?’ I asked him. Mark nodded slowly. ‘She… she hurt him on purpose.’
MIL rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, stop being dramatic. He needs to toughen up. You coddle him too much.’
That was the moment the cord finally cut. I picked up my son and held him tight. ‘Mark, pack the car. We are leaving. Now.’ ‘But we paid for the week!’ MIL protested. ‘And I don’t drive! How am I supposed to get back?’
I walked up to her, inches from her face. ‘You terrorized a four-year-old until he threw up. You are not a grandmother. You are a bully. And bullies don’t get rides home.’
We left her there. Literally. We checked out, got in the car, and drove off while she was still in the lobby screaming about how ‘disrespectful’ we were. She is currently stranded at a resort four hours away from home. Mark has blocked her number. My son is safe, sleeping in his car seat. And that ‘lesson’? It was the last one she will ever teach him.”
