How do I get past the irritation that I feel for my Mother-in-law (Female 48) - and Grandma-in-law (Female 70)?
There is a lot to unfold. I will try to keep it brief.
I have been married for almost 2 years now. But my husband and I have been together for almost a decade.
I am not a huge fan of my mother-in-law, or his grandma.
My husband's family is super tight-knit. My husband was the first grandkid to be born. His mom is the oldest out of all the siblings... she had him at 19.
Here is a list of general things that they do that upset me:
- They have pressured me to have a kid for the last 4 years... I am only 24! (I have repeatedly asked them to stop talking about it.... but they never stop.
- They are oddly and overly obsessed with my husband. (I understand it is her son and her grandson, but it is to the point where they make it seem like I am competing for him against them.)
- When they hug him in front of me, they glare me down.
- They have weird pet names for him.
- They call and text him constantly, sitting on the phone with him for hours every week.
- They guilt-trip him into coming over (or not seeing him enough) when it is extremely inconvenient for us.
- My family has pointed out that they think his mom and grandma are overly obsessed with him.
- They invite themselves over unannounced or with extremely short notice (even after I have told them that we appreciate more of a notice)
- They make us feel guilty for missing events... we live 7 hours away.
- They never ask me how I am doing, or how my job is going, or what I have been up to.
There is way more I could say, but these are the general things that really bug me.
I have never really been the jealous type, but they compete for his attention like it is a sport, and it makes me really uncomfortable.
So, my question is, how do I get past this irritation towards them? How do I learn not feel uncomfortable around them?
I am very self-aware and have general anxiety.
I am sure there are things that I have over-analyzed, but after almost 10 years, I still feel this way. I feel awkward, unwelcome, and unwanted around them... like I am some sort of competition.
Thank you, all advice is welcome.
Posted Mar 2, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC