Mothers-in-Law Speak Up

Our recent Stepping Stones newsletter generated a flurry of readers’ comments – not surprising since the topic was mothers-in-law. That’s been a hot-button relationship since the beginning of time. We appreciate hearing from our readers and decided to open the discussion about in-law relationships to all of you on our blog this week.

You’ll find a sampling of the responses below – feel free to weigh in on them yourselves. And send in your personal stories about getting along with your own mother-in-law or about your relations with your daughters-in-law and sons-in-law.

We focused the May newsletter, in honor of mother’s day, on getting along with sons-in-law. A prime example is Marian Robinson, who made news by living under the same roof – in the White House – as her son-in-law, President Obama. Yet many of issues we talk about and the tips we provide in that newsletter apply to daughters-in-law as well as to sons-in-law.

One young woman thought she recognized her own family dynamics in some of the tips: “I felt like my husband was an example of the what to do/not to do with a mother-in-law. Interesting timing for such an article given some of the recent joys and tensions we’ve experienced.”

A mother-in-law also wrote that she found the newsletter topic timely: “Interesting I could read this just now. My daughter-in-law has a less than stellar attitude about me. We just sent the kids some fun gifts for their anniversary. My husband said we shouldn’t force our attentions on them. I said that her attitude shouldn’t influence how we naturally are. So we sent them. I don’t know how she took it, but we got a call from our son. He appreciated. So, GO for it, Mrs. Obama’s mother! I hope she does something good for us all.”

We were especially touched by the following comment: “I love receiving your online newsletter and enjoy the ideas, suggestions and articles. In this current newsletter you talk about being a 
mother-in-law. I would like to encourage more “inclusion” when you address 
this and future such topics. I am a PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians 
and Gays) mother and extremely supportive of my Lesbian daughter and her 
new partner. I have a new daughter-in-law and I couldn’t love and 
appreciate anyone more than I do her. Thanks for considering my point of 
view.”

We would like to hear from other mothers of gay and lesbian children about your experiences with your children’s partners. We’ll talk more about this during the week. 


Another woman with a daughter-in-law wrote in asking for more tips about how to improve their relationship. “I’m a new mother-in-law … to my son’s new wife! I’m a little surprised that your advice in the newsletter on becoming a mother-in-law is only focused on becoming one to a male spouse of a daughter.”

If you are also wondering about getting along with a daughter-in-law, you can find an article we wrote about this by clicking on the title above. It will take you to our website www.HerMentorCenter.com, and an article in the Expanding Family section of Nourishing Relationships entitled, “From Baby Boomer to Mother-in-Law: How to Play Your New Role.“ It talks about the issues that commonly come up in the relationship with a daughter-in-law and gives some tips about relating better.