Does your mother-in-law call constantly or show up at your house unexpectedly?  Does she criticize the way you eat, dress, cook, or clean?  Does she complain to your husband that you are a rude, selfish, disrespectful daughter-in-law?  Does she try to manipulate you with guilt whenever you don’t revolve your life around her needs?  Does she feel entitled to control your parenting decisions because she is “Grandma”?  Does she think healthy boundaries don’t apply to her because she is “family”?  Does she put your husband in a position to choose between being a great husband and... (Read More ...)

 You probably fell in love with your husband because he was a loving, generous, thoughtful, responsible, honest person.  Maybe you loved the kind way he treated his 5-year old niece, his yellow Labrador retriever, or his sweet little grandma. Whatever qualities attracted you to him, there’s a good chance that his mother is a big reason why he turned out so great.  Moms are usually a wonderful influence in their son’s life.  Guys who have a close relationship with their mother usually make great husbands. Unfortunately, sometimes a man has such a close relationship with Mom... (Read More ...)

‘Dog Whisperer’ with Cesar Millan; it’s not unusual for me to sit and watch four episodes in a row.  Recently, during one of my Dog Whisperer TV marathons, I realized that many of the techniques Cesar uses to train dog owners can also be used to train daughters-in-law. Dog owners turn to Cesar for help whenever their pooches exhibits behavior problems.  He listens patiently to frustrated people as they describe how their beloved beagle bites, or their four pound Chihuahua taunts pit bulls.   Then he watches as they let their mutts barge past them into the house, jump onto the... (Read More ...)

If you thought your in-laws were intrusive before you had kids, then hold onto your maternity pants. The “fun” has just begun. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth is that your relationship with your in-laws is likely to grow more tense once children enter the picture. But then you probably discovered that the day you announced that you were pregnant. Ah, yes, that was the day your father-in-law insisted that you follow tradition and name your son (or daughter), “Clyde Waldo Dufus III”. And later that evening your mother-in-law purchased airline tickets and... (Read More ...)

The way I see it, there are two groups of people: those who love the holidays because they love spending time with family, and those who dread the holidays because their family– or spouse’s family– is difficult to be around. This article was written for those of you in the second category. Remember when you promised “for better or for worse”? If your in-laws are suffocating and controlling, then spending time with them is probably part of the “worse.” Because spending time with your spouse’s parents is part of the marriage commitment, you might as... (Read More ...)