In-Law Invasion Stories

"My fiance's parents are very old-fashioned, so we didn't tell them we were basically living together before we got married. One morning, my future mother-in-law called at 5 a.m. Pacific Time (she was on the East Coast), and I picked up the phone. She remarked, 'Wow, did you get there early to bring Steve breakfast before work? That's so nice of you!' and then proceeded to have a normal conversation with me as if she hadn't just woken us up! We just let her think that whole breakfast scenario was the case…" -- Nancy

“My mother-in-law got my sister-in-law (who's single) a sexy night gown for Christmas. She got me (a newlywed) a bathrobe!" -- Rachel

“My mother-in-law calls my husband every night to ask him what he's had for dinner. Then she asks him if he liked it. Blah!! Did I mention that she gave a four-minute toast at our wedding basically calling me a 'B': 'Well, as a mother of five boys, I'm just not used to having girls in my life. I'm just not used to having girls around. I'm not used to the attitudes and everything that comes along with having a girl. At the end of the day, let's just say we KNOW who's boss (implying herself).'" -- Catherine

“Not so much of a physical invasion, but more a financial one. One day, we got an out-of-the-blue phone call from my mother-in-law. She was calling to inform us that she'd just decided that her four children were going to chip in and send them on a Caribbean cruise. Our share was going to be $800, preferably paid within the next three days. She wanted to book the trip ASAP. Gawd." -- Margo

"My mother-in-law insists that we celebrate my husband's and my anniversary together and gives us a cheesy framed photo of us as a gift. It's like, excuse me, we were hoping for one event that didn't revolve around anyone but the two of us." -- Emily

“A few months after we were married (in 2005), our in-laws came to visit. We have steam radiator heat, which isn't nearly as common in the Midwest where the in-laws live. The radiators can be very loud and tend to hiss and spit out steam when they start up. In the middle of the night, my father-in-law came barging into our room because he thought that the radiator was about to explode. Not realizing that we have steam heat and not hot water heat, he thought it was smoke coming out of the radiator. The best part about the story is that he wouldn't look at us (in bed) and kept his arm covering his eyes the entire time, as if we were 'doing something" at 5 in the morning!" -- Jill