For at least a couple of years, the global public health crisis caused so many of us to cancel important plans — from weddings to baby showers and moving days. Holiday plans also had to change, as many people obeyed stay-at-home orders — but obviously, not everyone.
In fact, with Easter around the corner, we were reminded of one Redditor's mother-in-law who totally didn't get it and demanded that she pack up her brood and pay her a visit during the Easter holiday back in 2020. The original poster, or OP, took to r/JUSTNOMIL to explain that, if she refused, her MIL will "either cry or act like a huge B."
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Part of the problem was that her mother-in-law makes 'a huge deal about holidays.'
We all know the grandma who fully decks out her house as the North Pole for Christmas or tries to wrangle the whole family together for sparklers and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Well, that's this OP's MIL.
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Usually her mother-in-law has a huge Easter dinner.
But in 2020 less than a month after the COVID-19 crisis, social-distancing recommendations changed everything, and that wasn't possible.
To the mom, traveling to visit her MIL was just too big of a risk.
She and her husband already had a young child, and she was in her second trimester of pregnancy with their second child. "I just don't want to get this virus," she wrote at the time.
Understandable, right?
Her husband tried to tell his mom that they weren't coming.
But his mom made a "huge deal" about it, and her husband ended up promising that the couple would "think about it." He was trying to pacify her, but they really didn't have any intention of showing up.
Of course, the Reddit Mom was not going to 'think about it.' Not one bit.
She wasn't willing to "just stop by" as her husband suggested. "I'm so sick of this [expletive]." she wrote. "I've tried to make this lady happy for 10 years."
Honestly, we understand her frustration. This MIL is so pushy, isn't she?
She had already laid down the law with her own parents: No Easter celebrations this year, thank you very much.
Her parents were totally fine with that decision and respected her choice not just as an adult but as a mom.
"They were completely understanding like normal humans!" she wrote.
It was just her MIL that was posing a problem.
In fact, the Redditor was worried how her MIL would take the news. Was this going to make her life so much worse? It sounds like the MIL is the type to not let things go so easily, but considering OP was pregnant and raising a toddler, you'd think she'd have a little empathy.
People in the comments section thought her husband should be the one to handle his mama.
"His monkey, his circus. Tell him 'we agreed as a couple to not do Easter with either side of the family. I held up my side and told my family no. Now it's your turn," one person commented.
"If you want to break my trust and go over there you will be going by yourself. Then, you will quarantine yourself in a hotel for a minimum of 14 days before I'll let you back in this house," the commenter continued. "We made this decision to keep our family safe. I will NOT let you put us at risk just because a party and looking good to the neighbors means more to your mother than our lives."
As another commenter noted, "And by the way, it’s not your responsibility to make her happy."
The facts don't lie. Staying home was best for all of us at the time.
Her mother-in-law might not have wanted to believe it, but her daughter-in-law was right — it wasn't the year for Easter dinners. All but nine states had issued orders for residents to stay home unless they had to conduct essential business at that time in 2020, and more followed. Last time we checked, Easter — both for church services or family gatherings — is not essential.
It's unclear where the Redditor and her MIL live, but there was a reason why so many states had hopped onboard back then. Given the information we had around this time four years ago, staying at home was the best chance for all of us to stop COVID-19 from spreading.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
