5 Ways His Mother Can Poison your Relationship (Even if She Doesn’t Mean To)

When I got engaged, I remember so well when a friend of mine said to me: “Just so you know, there are ways that his mother can poison your relationship — even if she doesn’t mean to.’

I remember thinking ‘yeah, sure, but that won’t happen to us.’ Boy, was I wrong.

Mother in laws aren’t inherently evil and have developed a bad rap. But I know that my mother in law did play a role in the health of my marriage and I wish I had known then what I know now!

Here are 5 ways his mother can poison your relationship and some things that you can do to stop that poison in its tracks before it kills.

#1 — She has always done things ‘just so.’

I know that when I was growing up, my mother always did things ‘just so.’ Christmas Eve involved a party, Christmas carols, one present and midnight mass. We never turned the heat on until after Thanksgiving. Birthday parties were for immediate family. No one was required to eat everything on their plate. That was just how things were. And, as a result, that is how I was when I went into my marriage.

And, over the course of my ex husband’s life, my mother in law did things ‘just so’ but her ‘just so’ didn’t match mine. And that…