I am not a mother-in-law but I am a daughter-in-law who wishes she could have a normal relationship with her mother-in-law. I no longer have a relationship with my her, not even one out of politeness. I can tell you that no matter what the problem is, if you are insincere or dishonest, the relationship will never stand a chance. Nor will a relationship withstand being overbearing or trying to make her into something YOU think she should be. When two people meet and fall in love and get married, there are reasons for that.....as a third party to the relationship, you can't really second guess what those reasons are. My husband picked me for his own reasons, despite what his mother's thoughts were on the matter.

We will be married for 18 years this week. It has taken me 17 years to finally walk away from his mother. I've tried and tried to get her to just be real with me. She sugar coats things and lies to no end and I just can't tolerate it anymore. Is this the relationship I would like to have? NO. Absolutely not...however, it takes 2 honest parties to make it work. We now have a new baby and it's just a shame that she has shut herself out. It is what it is.

If I could pick just a few things that would improve our relationship by leaps and bounds, it would be for her to be real (stop sugar coating everything), honest and communicate.

Michelle