Mother-in-Laws get a bad rap. Yes, I make fun of mine, too. But I do it to her face.
And she gives it right back to me.
I admit that there are some obstacles to marrying into a family where everyone grew up together in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Like the fact that:
~ absolutely nobody has an Indoor Voice
~ they are all so close that we spend hours spooning on the couch when they visit
~ no information is too personal to broadcast to every single living relative (my favorite: the random phone call from the cousin asking about how my butt was after my 1st hemorrhoidectomy)
But since Mother’s Day is upon us, I thought I’d take a moment to celebrate some of the perks of having some a tiny, loud, constantly-cooking Mother-in-Law. I mean, other than the fact that she made the guy I expect to spend the rest of my life with.
…AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT, KIM.
9 Reasons My Italian Mother-in-Law From Brooklyn is Awesome
No, we’re not fighting. This is just how we talk.
9. Each time she sees me, she insists I am too thin and hands me a sandwich.
8. Despite the fact that her son is smart, handsome and successful, she insists he married “up”, simply because I am taller than any of their relatives.
7. She’s short enough to sneak into the movies when we go.
6. She just-so-happens to know of a great deli in every town we drive through.
5. She can’t help but clean my kitchen when she visits.
4. She apologizes when she sees my husband’s dirty clothes everywhere because she knows it’s her fault he can’t seem to locate any of the seven hampers in our home.
3. She tells my husband that I should get a weekly cleaning lady without directly stating that I am as bad a housekeeper as we both know I am.
2. When she does annoy me, I can throw up my hands and yell “Gah! You’re annoying me!”
1. When she does annoy me and I tell her so, she grins, throws her hands up and yells back, “I’m supposed to! I’m your Mother-in-Law! Now shut up and eat this rice ball.”
I can’t be the only one who adores her Mother-in-Law, so Speak Up:
What do you love about yours?
Some day I'll have a Daughter-in-Law who won't spend enough time in the kitchen cooking for my son. I look forward to torturing her.
~
Some day I will have a MIL the size of a Garden Gnome. I look forward to torturing her.
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Also: Congratulations to the
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@MommyShorts, @NinjaMomBlog & I @LetMeStart had FUN hosting last night’s Twitter Party. And – as promised! - our moderators
@NoDomesticDiva, @MotherhoodWTF & @NapsHappen brought the Funny.
Good times, people. Good times.
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My guy’s mom died when he was little. His older sister stepped in and helped raise him and his 3 younger sisters. He was two and his sister had already started her family and had 2 or 3 toddlers of her own. Honestly the woman is a hero in my eyes.
Vanessa recently posted..5 Things About Fashion Advice – For Men
She sounds AMAZING. I hope she gets mad props from everyone this Sunday.
OMG – your MIL sounds awesome!
I come from a long line of loud talkers so I can totally relate to that but I so wish someone would hand me a sandwich AND clean my kitchen!!!
Btw, great twitter party – thanks so much!
ronnie recently posted..Three Things Annoying Me…
She is a friggin’ HOOT. She loves making sandwiches and I love eating sandwiches, so we make a good pair.
I’m glad you had fun at the Twitter party – thanks for coming, and for coming by here!
Funny! I get along well with my MIL, too. We worked together for about 4 years and I would always get onto her about her horrible, chicken scratch writing that I was always having to decipher. And she has this funny way of mixing up words like calling a “Mural” a “Muriel” that I never get tired of teasing her about . But, I love her!
Paula @lkg4sweetspot recently posted..Teen Talk, Episode #1
That is so cute!
My MIL’s handwriting is fine, but my SIL’s is like a serial killers. When she does write something down, we play “WTF Does This Say?” until we give up and just call her for an interpretation.
What do I love about my MIL?
The time I don’t have to spend with her .. she hates me, always has – no matter what I do, it’s never enough. Ever. In 12 years of being with her son (6 1/2 married, 5 as the mother of her ONLY grandchild) you’d think by now she’d get over herself and realize we’re happy. Nope.
Meh. I see her when I have to, and other wise – we exist.
Amy recently posted..Finding Happy
Hopefully some day she comes around and realized what she has in you.
My MIL is a saint. She is a preachers wife and spends hours, not just every Sunday but, just about every day in church, driving to a church or doing some sort of charity work. Despite her some 80 years she has more energy than I could ever have. Holidays she spends cooking for a large group of family. I don’t know how she does it.
Adayla recently posted..Nutella & Coconut Bread Pudding recipe.
She sounds magical!
My mother in law planned our wedding without pissing anybody off.
She finds something amazing and unique about each of her in-laws and grandchildren and then cultivates that thing.
She can make health food taste good. Like so good that I beg her to cook it when ‘health’ and ‘food’ are words I don’t think belong in the same state let alone sentence together.
She does dishes at whichever home she’s at.
Patience. She has it in quantities.
Crazy half Vermont, half Ohio accent.
She gives my niece who isn’t related to her at all Christmas gifts.
She and my Mom exchange plants and keep in contact even when my husband and I live five hundred miles away from them.
The list is endless. I always say that if I’d had to do it backwards and pick my in-laws before my husband, I’d still be married to the same guy.
Jester Queen recently posted..All Fooked Up
I LOVE your last line there. That is a sign of a great MIL!
My MIL was a preschool teacher and elementary school principal so she loves kids. That means she is willing to take them to the park, get down on the floor and play with them, and entertain them all the time. She also ALWAYS tries to say “yes” when any of us needs help. “Yes, I will babysit your three terrors for free and don’t call them terrors.”
just keep swimming recently posted..The Ruiners
That’s wonderful. I think too many grandparents are afraid to take on the physical aspect of kids, and just don’t have the patience for them. You’re one lucky duck.
I love this post. I know many people like your MIL. I may or may not be related to some of them. You just forgot one thing, one bullet point, one reason your MIL from Brooklyn is awesome is that ALL people from Brooklyn are awesome
Christine @ Quasi Agitato recently posted..Progress
LOL! How dare I forget that point??
So great. I love my MIL, too. But she’s the exact opposite of yours!
Ninja Mom recently posted..#MakeMomBrite, tonight!
Exact opposite as in says you eat too much and makes a mess of your kitchen? I don’t think I could love that.
She’s not a garden gnome who can’t stop moving?
This cracked me up! I love that there is involuntary spooning on the couch at all get-togethers and that your MIL makes you eat rice balls. My MIL LIVES WITH US. Did you hear me okay? SHE LIVES HERE. So, I might have a different perspective. I do love her. She is great, but…she has some odd ways. She likes to put scoops and scoops of “Bowel Cleansing Powder” in her morning shakes. When I see that canister on my counter, my day is ruinednotreally. Okay, I love that she cleans my kitchen and doesn’t tell me what to do. Yay! I found something!
Kelley recently posted..Come celebrate with the Kelley’s Break Room choir!
Whoa. Lives with you. Oh boy. That’s…umm…CLOSE.
Though, I love my Miralax and pour it on top of my Fiber One at breakfast. So I can’t blame her for wanting a cleansed bowel.
I insist you allow the kitchen cleaning to balance the bowel cleaning. I’d LOVE for someone to come clean my kitchen.
All I have to say is I’m from Brooklyn, and it’s true that “indoor voice” is nonexistent.
Please Be Chocolate recently posted..Pube Power!
I love the validation. Honestly, the Brooklyn school system needs to add it to the curriculum. My head hurts.
I have nothing to add to this conversation. Mine is AWFUL!!
Booooo! May she have a change of heart and turn her frown upside-down.
LOVELY! what an awesome tribute! hey, is THIS the family that used to “cheer” when you came out of the bathroom?
Yes, my in-laws cheer when I came out of the bathroom post-anal-surgery. They are supportive (and unable to recognize boundaries) like that.
tiny, loud, constantly-cooking Mother-in-Law totally describes mine to a T! She is even from Brooklyn too, though now they live 5 min from us in the suburbs. She has a pretty overbearing mother and mother-in-law so she has made a conscious effort to stay out of our business as much as an italian mother can
especially since I’m married to her baby boy. She is a wonderful grandmother to my boys and would drop everything in a heartbeat if we ever needed anything. I love her dearly. Doesn’t hurt that she is an awesome cook! But seriously short, like always (ALWAYS) has some kind of heel on (the woman does not own a flat or even a sneaker) so I’m not sure I even know what her true height is. I don’t even know if my husband knows 
Yay for another awesome BK MIL!
Your MIL sounds pretty much amazing. I have to say I lucked out with mine, as well. She’s fun and easy going and takes me dress shopping when I look at her like, “I think I’ll just go to the family wedding in the potato sack I wore last year.”
Although, I wish someone would tell me how skinny I am and hand me a sandwich when they saw me.
Paige Kellerman recently posted..Happy Birthday, Double Trouble…
No matter what I weigh when she sees me – gain or loss – she exclaims “OH MY GOD YOU ARE TOO THIN!!” like I have some eating disorder. Every. Single. Time.
It’s kind of awesome.
If I ever meet you, I promise to yell this at you and shove a sandwich in your face.
1) I now want a sandwich
2) Can I borrow your MIL?
Bethany Thies recently posted..A Pox on Our House/A Case of Bieber Fever
1) Go get one.
2) I rent her out for $50/hour. What’s your schedule like?
My MIL is lovely, she and my FIL took the kids last weekend! Not quite from Brooklyn, she’s actually from England! She also is a sweet person, oh and she helped teach me to knit things for my baby girl and she actually likes that I am crazy enough to enjoy knitting and sewing etc. My own mother only seems to think that sort of thing is cool when she needs a dress mended…
Ziva recently posted..Are You All Super Jealous?
Awww…knitting with MIL for your babies? I think that’s the sweetest thing ever…
Aw, I love that! I love women that constantly try to feed everyone. They are in short supply these days
StoriesAndSweetPotatoes recently posted..Back Away From The Sweet Potatoes
When I had each of my kids, her #1 job was simply to feed me. I’d nurse and a plate would be ready for me when I finished. I’d shower and a glass of juice and a snack would be in my room when I finished. She’s like The Food Fairy, but with an apron instead of wings.
So funny. I particularly like the one about it being her fault your husband can’t find a hamper. I had a similar conversation with my MIL over Christmas about it. She apologized for my husband being a complete slob who never cleans up after himself.
That said, while my MIL has her quirks, I have to say I have it pretty good. We have a great relationship. When she comes to visit, I spend more time with her than my own husband does. We can talk about almost anything. So, I’m with you… a shout out to the not-awful, non-so stereotypical mothers-in-law out there. Sometimes MILs can be decent. As the mother of sons, I hope to be an okay MIL some day as well (that is assuming my boys don’t marry some hussy ass hole).
Steph at The Healthy Mom recently posted..A Poem to Grandma for Mother’s Day
She takes full blame of the hamper issue. As she should.
I, too, spend more time with my MIL and Husband does. We have more in common!
My first mother-in-law was a Holocaust survivor, so I cut her a HUGE break on things. She could put up a mean fight at Scrabble; she drank her coffee black, just like me; unlike me, she smoked, but she was very considerate.
My “last” mother-in-law (if things don’t work out with my soul mate, Lex, I give up!) has her quirks, but she welcomed me and my daughter into the family with open arms. My daughter finally found out that grandmas don’t have to tell stories about escaping Auschwitz and other scary stuff, or that Oma was disappointed that “your mother” never converted to Judaism!
My MIL rocks! Her name is Dottie and she makes THE best banana bread in the world. Thanks for letting us all brag on the good ones (and get the other ones off our chests!). Happy you have a great MIL, because you deserve it! Amy
Sharp Little Pencil recently posted..Bop ‘Til We Drop (Thanks, Lance!)
A MIL who played a mean game of Scrabble? I want one of those!
Also, awesome banana bread? I really hope this marriage sticks, because THAT is worth fighting for.
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