In-laws are complex for most people. Some are incredibly helpful and loving, while others can make life difficult for newlyweds. The latter is precisely what today’s Reddit story is about, where a wife bans her mother-in-law from her house because she hung a photo of her son with his ex-wife.
The Story
A woman with the username alt_account_ad posted her story in Reddit’s AITA (Am I The A**Hole?) subreddit – where people ask the community if they did the right thing or not. Here is her story:
“My husband (30) and I (31) have just bought our first house together, we’re loving it and we’re excited to decorate it together. Unfortunately my husband travels a lot for work and we’ve already had new furniture orders arrive but I couldn’t do it all myself. My MIL (mother in law) offered to help and I agreed.
“yesterday, I got back from work at 8 and was shocked to see one of the wall was full of framed pictures that mil put there, that is not the main problem because these pictures were from his childhood, graduation, birthdays and then I saw the biggest framed picture of them all and is him and his ex on their wedding day (context: MIL “adores” my husband’s ex, she brings her up all the time and reminces about the past years with her. not only that but she includes her in events and holidays which caused issues between us) I lashed out at mil asking what the hell she put that picture on the wall for and how she thought it was an appropriate thing to do. I told her to take it down in that instance but she defensive and said “this is part of Derek’s life and you can not erase it”. then went on about how many hours she spent working on this wall and how I should try to be a little bit more appreciative. I lost my cool and flipped out on her, I took a share and removed the picture. she started arguing with me asking what’s wrong with me and calling me crazy. I told her to take the picture and leave but she tried to say that it wasn’t just the ex in that picture but my husband as well but I told her I’d throw it out if she won’t leave. She left but started texting me saying stuff like jealous, bitter, overbearing, controlling etc. I responded telling her she disrespected me in my own home by what she did and proceeded to ban her from the house.
“she called my husband and forwarded a screenshot of the “ban”. He called me and we talked. he then said his mom ought to know better but she didn’t and I was right to be angry but banning her from the house was an overreaction – like a crazy overreaction. he tried to get me to call her and cancel the ban but I refused. he then ranted about how unfair I was being to make such decision when it’s our house not just mine. conversation got nowhere and am now waiting for him to get home to talk. my inlaws are upset with me saying I went overboard with this reaction and urged me to let mil back into the house and drop this whole thing like it never happened.
“Aita for banning after this?”
The Responses
The entire Reddit community came to this woman’s defense, telling her she did nothing wrong and she should hold her ground. For context, NTA means “Not the A**Hole.” Here are some of the top comments:
Reddit user Catatomical said:
“NTA – It was a super inappropriate thing to do, MIL knew exactly what she was doing and now she is succeeding in driving a wedge between you and your husband. He should 100% have your back on this and his mother should apologise.”
“Good luck for the future. If this is an indication of how things are going to be, you may well need it!”
Liss78 said:
“NTA. Hang up a photo of you and your ex and see how hubby feels about it. Oh, it’s childish and immature? Well so is his mother.”
“He needs to back you here. If he doesn’t, is only going to continue to happen. She’s going to keep on doing this to you until he stops it or you two break up. It sounds like she’s trying to do that so he can get back with his ex.”
naynay2908 commented:
“NTA. That’s…very weird behaviours. I hate to say it but you need to be prepared for this not being the end of it, this is classic nightmare MIL 🚩.”
“If you feel comfortable, you could offer to back off the ban on the condition she stops doing things like that and that she cannot send horrible texts as she did that day. I’m sorry though, I think you need to be prepared that this is the first of many such incidents.”
Melin_Lavendel_Rosa chimed in:
“NTA”
“This was a malicious power play from her. She hung that picture to show you that she will never accept you. It was a slap in the face.”
“Your husband is a major AH too for not completely having your back.”
This post has over 1.6k comments, you can check them out on Reddit here.
Our Take
This woman has every right to ban her mother-in-law from her house after she did something so hurtful and traumatizing to ruin her marriage and relationship. Everyone needs to know about boundaries; this mother-in-law doesn’t have her son’s happiness in mind and just wants to hurt his wife. NTA.
What’s Your Take?
What’s your take on this woman’s situation? Talk to us in the comments below and share your take on her story.
Source: Reddit – AITA for banning mil out of my house after she hung a picture of my husband’s ex on the wall?
Hang a picture of you and ex then see husband’s reaction. Husband should instead ask MIL to apologize for disrespecting you and by the way why would she put another woman’s picture in a house you baught with your money.
NTA- she did better then I would with MIL. I would have ripped the pic off the wall and smashed it in front of her. Tell MIL that his ex is no longer in his life and has no business in the house- by picture or otherwise. If MIL doesnt like it she can stay out of the house as well. I hope you, your husband, and MIL talked and you made it clear that his ex is EX and is not welcome in your home and if they dont like it, they can be EX as well.