Future Mother In Law Hates Me!

I am feeling more and more depressed as i count the remaining days to my wedding. My fiance`s mother hates me! First of all, i`m not chinese (i`m vietnamese) and i`m a lot younger than he is, and because i don`t bend and kneel to his mother`s requests & orders. His mother basically wants a "good traditional chinese" daughter in law who will be her servant. When he brought me home to meet them about a year and half ago, i tried really hard making her like me by doing whatever she wants and it worked. But last november, she really ticked me off by telling me how to do laundry, clean house, do my hair & makeup, and not to speak too much in front of "important" folks unless i`m asked to. I finally put my foot down by saying "no" for the first time to her and she was so furious. From that day on, she made it clear that she will never acknowlege me as her son`s fiance or future wife. I even heard through her other daughters-in-law (they don`t get a long with her too--no surprise there) that she`s even bad mouthing me to my fiance, asking him what the hell he`s doing with me, when he could "obviously" do a lot better. She NOW thinks that i am using him for his money and title (he`s a physician) and i`m nothing but a worthless dumb vietnamse child. I am really upset about that, because he`s the one who pursued me in the first place!!!!! there are times when my fiance and i would argue about his mom and i know he loves me and has already made it clear to her that he WILL marry me with or without her consent. I am very proud of him for standing up to her (he was SOOOO a momma`s boy when i met him), but i still wonder if i could`ve done better to prevent this strain between him and his mother. I would cry sometimes just thinking about it. I`ve never dreamed that my future mother in law could hate me so much. I get so depressed that i would even question my upcoming marriage to my fiance, the man who i truly love. I wonder if i could be happier with someone else, whose mother won`t hate me. I`m sorry for ranting like this when this site is made for "happy" brides, but i just need to vent. My family and friends don`t know how his mother is treating me lately and it`s kinda embarrassing to talk about it.
Posted by Cindy; updated 07/22/04

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Do you love him? That`s what`s really important. You`re marrying her son not her so don`t worry what she thinks. She sounds like a jealous, interfereing old dragon. Just be yourself, never change for anyone. Don`t let her speak down at you - stand up for yourself, you`ll be respected more by others for standing your ground. If she don`t like it - tough. She`ll just have to get used to it. Have you spoken to your partner about how you feel? If he don`t do anything about it, then perhaps he`s not the guy for you. He should respect your feelings - you`re after all going to be HIS new family...
Posted by H; updated 07/23/04

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Thanks, H....Yes, my fiance and i have spoken about "her" many many times and he assures me that i am number one on his list, regardless of what his mother thinks. I just feel bad because our marriage isn`t "blessed." thanks for the advice!
Posted by Cindy; updated 07/23/04

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I also think it is important that your fiancee support you, and he needs to stand up to her. He should not tolerate the bad mouthing of the woman he loves. If he is firm with her, she hopefully will come around. The worse thing he can do though is tolerate it and not defend you.

Good luck
Posted by Kim; updated 07/23/04

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I wouldn`t worry too much about your future mother in-law unless you`re going to live with her and she`s going to support you and your fiance after you`re married! My mother in law was funny about me at the beginning since we are different religions but I made a point to her that her son knew my faith and accepted it, so should she! She needs to accept you as you are! Doesn`t she realize that everyone has something beautiful in them. Those days of waiting on hand and knees are done with. She needs to wake up! Does she have any daughters? I wouldn`t give her too much of your time or thoughts. Especially since she doesn`t like her other daughter in-laws. Seems like she just has issues with herself!
Posted by adriana; updated 07/23/04

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Sounds to me like she is still waving her magical control wand. You might want to actually confront her yourself or with your fiance. Tell her that you realize that she feels like shes losing her son and that you understand that she will always be his mother and reassure her that there will be nothing that could change that (Even if you wish you could change her into a frog!) Then proceed to tell her that you are by no circumstances a bad woman for not doing things the way that she does them. Let her know that you are actually quite adept at womanly skills of household boredom and heck, if she gets stupid and loud and irate, just let her know that his nursing years are over, that he is much more interested in what you have to offer him and to stuff it up her momma does it this way booty!!!!
Posted by Lee; updated 07/23/04

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It sounds to me like this is more of a cultural issue than anything else. Now I may be wrong but in chinese culture the women traditionallly are supposed to be quiet and have no opinion and are supposed to take care of the house and keep everything perfect. Also, traditionally the mother in law was basically god and the wife of her son would have to do whatever she said. This dates back to when families added on to their house when a son was married and they essentially all lived in one place. I`m guessing that your mother in law went through some of this and fell subject to her mother in law and now in her mind it is supposed to be her turn to be the one in charge and since she probably was never in charge of her own life she`s probably very upset that she doesn`t get to be in charge of your life because this was her chance to have a say in something. If any of that makes sense. I don`t have a solution for you, but I think that in approaching this you do need to be sensitive to where the mother is coming from, you are after all breaking tradition (in her mind) and traditions die hard. It will take her time, but if she is wise she will come around, if not you will have to learn to ignore her and not let her get you down. Hope everything turns out okay. Good luck.
Posted by traci; updated 07/25/04

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In the first place,``you teach people how to treat you``!if you bow down to or let people walk all over you,then it`s hard to stop them from treating you that way.they adjust to you being just so.and although it is wrong,most mom`s don`t like their daughter-in-laws.BUT,it is for the man to deal with his family if they don`t like their spouse.i`m sure she is just jelous of you for yall being so happy.DO stand up to her every chance you get or she will forever knock you down.hope the situation gets better.BE HAPPY!
Posted by Kaseygirl; updated 07/25/04

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You guys are wonderful....this is indeed a cultural issure and i cannot help but being vietnamese instead of chinese. Don`t get me wrong, i do want to reconcile with her, but she only communicates in chinese when she`s around us. She`s doing this to embarrass me, as i don`t exist. And thank god we are not living with her, because i`d go crazy. Though my fiance does owe her a lot of money for medical school. After we pay her off, i`d feel much better about this because she constantly rubs it in her son`s face (not appreciating her for helphing him out, etc....)
Posted by Cindy; updated 07/26/04

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Oh man join the club. Get this she hates me because we ordered the invites and her name was not on them. Well the place told us if she has not made any attempts to help with the wedding and has not made any attempts to meet my mom she does not go on the inivites. So we ordered them not mentioning her name just my folks. We spent 350 buck on them and once they came in all hell broke loose. So we are having to order 25 extras with her name on them! She is a widow and her son did not want her on them to begin with. This lady had the nerve to call me and mom stupid for not knowing she goes on them. She says that no one will know him cause her name is not on them! I feel if they dont know him they dont need to come --right!? She has not done anything! I even asked her to help with the rehershal dinner and she yelled at me and said its not her duty BS. This is the same woman who got mad at me cause I took her daughter out cause for 8 mths she has been blowing me off about the dress. Well, they had to be ordered last week and the daughter quit her job and said she no longer could afford it. So I removed her and put my BF instead. THe ML said I should pay for all of her stuff BS. I hate her already. I pray that I can deal with her in a christian way but its hard. My FH is ok will all of this and he will be paying for the reorder of invites. But he is sooo forgetfull that I will not mention it to him again so that if they dont get ordered we will just say it slipped his mind sorry HAHAH. Thanks for letting me vent.
Posted by sabrina; updated 07/28/04

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After marriege move to a different city....far far away...
Posted by Katie; updated 07/28/04

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Sabrina

The names on the invite should be whoever is hosting the wedding. Traditionally, as the father of the bride pays for all the wedding - it should be just your parents names only. But, nowadays things are different so - if both families are chipping in equally then both parents will be named on the invite. If you/FH are paying for the wedding yourself - then it would be your names only.

Hope this helps.
Posted by Mary; updated 07/28/04

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Oh I told her that and she says "I never heard of that it seems to me that my family is ashmed of Chris" Which is not true at all. Its like she is begging for a fight ya know.
Posted by sabrina; updated 07/28/04

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About the invitations....my wicked future mother in law made it clear that she does NOT want her name on the invites because our marriage is "without her blessings." my man is a traditional kind of guy, and he`s a little annoyed about that, but it`s way cool on my part!
Posted by Cindy; updated 07/28/04

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Cindy,
I am a caucasian woman married to a Chinese man (he’s my dream!). However, my ex husband was quite the mama’s boy, so I’ve been through lots of what you’re going through.

First of all, your fiancee’s mother will always be a part of your life. And she will always be his mother, no matter how nasty she gets. And your future husband will feel pulled between the two of you. It has the potential for causing many, many problems in the future. My ex husband’s being a total mama’s boy is why I left him after 10 years of marriage. Yes, he would take my side and speak up to his mother now and then, but the bottom line is that the majority of the time he was too afraid of her to stand up for me – or for himself.

I suggest you two get counseling NOW before you get married. I can guarantee you that what you are experiencing now will not go away just because you are married. In fact, many times it will intensify. Now you will be a part of their family, so you’ll have family functions and holidays to look forward to with this woman. And can you imagine what you life will be like when you have children? I know … I lived it. It was hell.

Now, being married to a Chinese man, I know about the whole Asian/respect thing. As an outsider from a different race and culture, it appears to me that Asian children are taught to respect and listen to their elders no matter what. It’s a rare kid that has the guts to stand up to his family for what he wants from life. My sisters-in-law even entered the medical field just to please their parents.

So, it looks like you have a double whammy here. Definitely … get counseling before you get married. Decide NOW if this is how you want to live your life. Oh … and someone else said just to move away. Trust me when I tell you that doesn’t work either. When I was married to my ex, we moved 2000 miles from his mother and she still had a long arm for causing trouble and interfering.

Best of luck to you.
Pam

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Posted by Pam; updated 08/16/04

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Dear Brides:

Thanks for the great advice. My fiance and I are currently taking marriage counseling and it is like a breath of fresh air. I can vent and not feel guilty about it! I know my fiance loves me very much, because he wasn`t thrilled about seeing a marriage counselor, but to save our engagement, he relented. He and his mom still speak to each other on the telephone, but not about me; at least she`s no longer bad mouthing me. Anyway, I`d like to say thank you for your support and advice during difficult times. I hope you guys the best with your wedding & live happily ever after!
Posted by Cindy; updated 08/16/04

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My boyfriend`s stepmother says I am immature and manipulative and I`m not allowed in her home. She also says I am not allowed to meet the family, which means I can`t really get to know his dad, though I`d like to know him. We are thinking of getting married alone, with no reception, just to aviod her. I feel like I never want to look at her or talk to her again. What shoud I do?
Posted by Ann; updated 08/17/04