Okay, I'm glad to find out that my mother in law isn't the only cooky one out there. I got married at 19, and yes, I was pregnant. So that didn't start our relationship out so well. But 8 years and 3 grandkids later, you'd think she would finally accept that I LOVE my husband, and his frist responsibility now is his family.(ie: me, the kids) But no, nothing I do will ever measure up to her perfect standards. Not my cleaning, cooking, or even my driving. I swear, she has something to say about everything. The lady has tried to put me on a diet, because according to her, she got back down to 118lbs. after each of her 5 natural childbirths. (I had 3 c-sections, not by choice) I'm not even overweight, but loosing a few pounds wouldn't hurt. Just not by her ways. She even went as far as to tell my husband that we shouldn't have anymore kids. Why? Because now her daughters are having babies, and we can totally see how much more she is devoted to them then our kids. That kinda hurts. Honestly, I feel like getting knocked up right now just to spite her! But I guess the thing I've learned over the passed 8 years is that no, I will never be good enough in her eyes. But in my eyes, I am a good wife, friend, and I try my best to be the best mom my kids could have. So I can be proud of that and stop trying to measure up to the standards that she has. Most of the time I can just laugh off her crazy stuff, but sometimes it still gets to me.

Angie, Although I'm not married yet, I feel your pain. My fiancee's mother makes me feel like a total failure. When we talk about what I made for supper she always ask's if it was better than hers. I feel bad for my fiance because she is always putting him on the spot. My house is never clean enough for her, although it is much cleaner than her's, I'm somewhat of a neat freak/perfectionist. I have just put it out of my mind and ignore whatever comes out her mouth. I have expressed to my fiance my feelings and even to his father, who has also noticed it. I look at it as she wants the best for her son, but no one will ever be good enough.

As far as her saying you shouldn't have any more kids, that is wrong, way wrong. I'm with you I would probably have one just to spite her. If we ready for more. You just have to grin and bear it and spend the least amount of time around her. When you do have to get together with her, pretend you don't hear a word coming out of her mouth. Thats what I do anyways!!

Thanks for the words of wisdom. You're right, I should just ignore the junk that comes out of her mouth. I think the thing that bothers me most is that she's sweet as pie when my husband is around, but when he's gone--all bets are off. My problem is that I try soooo hard to please her because I never really had a mother. And from the outside looking in, her family was perfect. But that is far from the truth. They are just good at covering things up. Amazingly, my husband managed to escape unharmed with no deep seeded problems, and now we have a pretty normal life. I'm thankful for that.