Grandma says we’re keeping the baby from her

r/

Hi everyone,
Basically my MIL is extremely manipulative to my spouse and always try’s to get away with getting what she wants that we finally had to tell her no and she threw a fit.
To give some context my spouse and I and our 6 month old baby are in the process of moving(our move in date is a week from this post) and so things are incredibly hectic around the house with packing, taking care of the baby, and both of us working full time(I work from home). My MIL mentioned to us months ago she’d like to come out and watch the baby for us while we do what we need to do to get moving going and we thought with some hesitancy that’s may be a good idea(we were hesitant because she tends to come and we end up having to put so many boundaries around her because she behaves ridiculously and always tries to overstep her authority, causing fights between her and my spouse or my spouse and I)
After that she started acting really manic around my spouses siblings over the coming weeks that we were bothered by her behavior and honestly she came off as an extreme stressor and burden that my spouse changed his mind on her coming and I agreed with him. She basically got angry sending blabbering texts to us, further showing how she was in a manic state to us. (She also totally has some undiagnosed mental health issues from domestic violence in her early years so she truly does need help).
After that happened I could tell as time has gone on she’s been extra kind and constantly calling my spouse and from my perspective trying to butter him up so he’d change his mind and even going so far as to asking him to reconsider, which she was able to wear him down enough to say yes he’d reconsider. As time got closer to now, we enlisted my spouses brother to come and help us with this move because he works as a professional mover, so she was trying to take that opportunity to come along with him(they live in the same area) to be with the baby. He told her the answer is still no and she then offers to just come and have dinner together, basically trying anything to get here(mind you, she lives 4hours away from us so we knew there was no way it would be a quick stop, she’d end up forcing our hand and staying at our house which she’s done in the past where she’s asked to come visit, we tell her the amount of time we are good with her staying and it’s ALWAYS her ending up staying longer coming up with excuses for why she can’t leave yet).

We ended up telling her she would be too much of an added stressor to us and we don’t want her to come because it’s too chaotic for visitors. (For context in the past every time she’s around and there’s something going on she’s always trying to control how everyone does stuff, always too involved in everyone’s business that we have to set boundaries with her on being around when we wanna make major decisions on things and if we need her input we’ll ask). Being that we didn’t wanna run into that same situation with her and risk my spouse and her yelling at each other about how to do stuff around the move(which is where it always ends up) I was just flat out like I don’t want her to come and add stress onto us she can see the baby after the move. My spouse thought the same.
Hours later after he told her that, she calls him hysterically crying accusing us of keeping the baby from her and doesn’t wanna wait til the baby’s birthday to see him(he’s 6 months old and his birthday was never mentioned as the only time she can see him so she’s just throwing that out there like we told her she had to wait til then which we didn’t) starts throwing jabs of “you’re really gonna regret not letting me have this time with him” and then says how I’m manipulating and forcing my spouse to not let her come. My spouse took offense to that because she was implying I was controlling him and I’m not he thought the same as me he just wanted to give in because she’s his mom but I wasn’t giving in because her behavior was what mattered. He tries to tell her if she were to come she’d just add more stress and we don’t need that now and she hung up before he could finish what he was saying then texts me and says that she’s blocking the both of us. So now my spouse is feeling like shit because he wishes things were different and that she could be more understanding and I’m irritated because she’s making it about the baby when we’re trying to tell her it’s about the move. Also want to note that the last time she saw the baby in person was two months ago and she was staying with us for two months at that time already to help us with the baby, so I understand her want to see him again in person but what she doesn’t care about is the timing of it being too much. It wouldn’t end up helping us so much because she would insert herself into the moving decisions and I don’t want that. She doesn’t care though and only wants unfiltered access to the baby. Wondering what everyone thinks about this situation.

Comments

  1. botinlaw Avatar

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  2. Reliant20 Avatar

    Enjoy being blocked. You are now under no pressure to deal with her. I hope she keeps you both blocked for a long time.

    She stayed with you for two months??? Must have been hell.

  3. CheeseRavioli01 Avatar

    Your SO has the right to feel whatever he feels regarding his mother. The fact is he stood by you even if it was hard for him. It sounds like he needs more work. Perhaps therapy might do him some good. When you put a boundary, you need to stick to it. If I was you, I would tell her the rules and consequences should she breaks them. If she does, follow through and she will learn soon enough not to mess with you. If she doesn’t, you distance yourself and you win anyway.

    Now your MIL sounds horrible. I’m glad you straight up said ‘No!’ and stuck to it. It’s your job to protect your baby and your peace.