The Worst Father-In-Laws Imaginable
Be careful who you marry, because you'll also be marrying their parents. And sadly? If your father-in-law ends up being anything like the men in these stories—you can kiss your "happily ever after" goodbye.
1. A Messy Situation
I don't typically take my daughter to my mother-in-law's house for a few reasons, but mainly due to my father-in-law. He's mentally hurtful to my mother-in-law and has been to his kids as well.
Me and my significant other always knew he wouldn't be around our child. Today, my mother-in-law needed help with setting up a brand new TV.
My father-in-law was at work for a few more hours, and it should typically only take a few minutes to set up, so I figured it would be okay.
I sat in the kitchen with my six-month-old baby to be out of the way while she was working on it with my husband. Then, my father-in-law gets home super early for some reason.
I mostly ignore him and I'm about to subtly tell my partner that we need to leave.
That’s when my father-in-law walks over. He reaches out to pick up my baby, when my mother-in-law tells him to wash his hands, which are black with dirt. He tells her to screw off. I try to keep things calm, so I say, "We all have to wash our hands before touching her because of the pandemic. It's just to keep her safe". His disturbing response made me see red.
He then yells and swears at me before reaching out for my daughter's face quite roughly. I pull her back in time and firmly say no. He then whacks me in the face while trying to push my head out of the way.
I push him away with my free hand, so he grabs it and twists it. I get him away and warn him that if he comes at me again I will do my best to hurt him.
He then starts threatening me while my mother-in-law takes my baby out of my arms and then runs out of the room as quickly as possible. My father-in-law’s gaze is still focused directly on me. I leave a minute later while he yells threats at me.
He's normally just verbally harmful, so no one expected this. I think he wasn't used to being told no, as everyone else just backs down to his demands immediately.
Of course, I'm never going near that house again. I just wanted to get this off of my chest. When I got home that night, I reported the incident to the local authorities.
He already had a history with them and other domestic issues, but I took everyone's suggestion to make sure that there is a documented history of him having problems with me and my daughter, in case there are any further incidents down the road.
After my call to the authorities, he was actually apprehended and interviewed, but eventually released later that night. My bruise had faded by the time my appointment with the officers happened a few days later.
And my mother-in-law didn't want to serve as a witness, so there was no evidence for them to go on. On the bright side, he has been ordered to stay away and I'm looking into an order that would legally keep him from me and my baby.
2. Invasion Of The Baby Snatchers
So I’ve been having zero contact with my in-laws for about seven months now, and I’m happy to report that it’s been the most drama-free seven months of my life.
Over the last few months, I’ve really been ruminating and looking at past behavior and realizing how early on in our relationship their bad behavior towards me and others began.
One story, in particular, popped up for me, and it’s pretty hilarious that it has nothing to do with me. But I want to share it anyway because it perfectly showcases what kind of man my father-in-law is. Also, it just goes to show that my in-laws are mean to everybody, including even themselves at times. Anyway, here goes with the story. Buckle up, it's a doozy.
My sister-in-law had just given birth and the whole family was at the hospital.
The whole time that we were waiting in the waiting room, my brother-in-law made it crystal clear to everyone that my sister-in-law did not want anyone in the delivery room other than herself, her mother, and her husband.
Even after she had the baby, she did not want anyone coming into the room that night and preferred to see everyone else the next day.
Which is totally her right to decide. Nevertheless, an hour or two go by and my brother-in-law runs out and says, “The baby’s here! The baby’s here, and everyone’s doing great!”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, my father-in-law says, “Great, so can we go in there and see the baby?” My brother-in-law reiterates that no, he can’t, as per his wife’s very clear wishes to have this private time with her new baby.
My brother-in-law then turns to face the rest of the family to just give us the details about how much the baby weighed and what she looks like, blah blah blah.
But while he was speaking, I was discreetly watching my father-in-law the whole time because I know what he is like.
Sure enough, the minute everyone’s backs were turned, he snuck away and walked straight into the delivery room so he could see his grandchild, because that’s how big of a head he has.
You should have heard the screaming from that room. It was a sound like I’ve never heard before or since in my entire life. One thing I can say about my sister-in-law is that she takes a whole lot less nonsense from people than I do. After he got yelled at and came back from the delivery room, every single person in the family asked him what the heck he was thinking when she had specifically made her wishes clear to him before the actual delivery?
And I said right in front of everyone, “Oh, that’s because he doesn’t care. He’s the most self-centered person I’ve ever met". And his daughter turned to me and said, “You know what? You are absolutely right.
That is a perfect description of my father". This story is just a tiny sample of the kind of behavior this man engages in every single day.
3. A First Time For Everything
I recently dropped off my son for visitation with my ex and stayed for a minute. My nine-month-old son has started screaming in the last week, which is perfectly normal at his age.
My ex's father had surgery last week and I know he's in pain, but then again he's always been a little difficult. Anyway, my son was screaming and my ex-father-in-law started making comments like "that's unnecessary".
But I lost it when he said, "Stop that screaming or you're gonna get your first spanking!" I was like “Oh, no you don’t!” I told my ex that I wasn't leaving our son there and that I was taking him home. I was like, "
Look, I know you just had surgery but I know you didn't just threaten to hurt a nine-month-old. That's a completely unacceptable thing to do".
I'm gonna let the judge in our case know why I'll no longer be abiding by the order to split custody of our child with my ex. I just can't believe that anyone would seriously think it's okay to hurt an infant!
I was madder than a bull in a china shop, and I still am if I’m being honest! His family has always been dysfunctional, but that was a new low.
4. Crying Over Spilled Milk
Okay, so my insane father-in-law has always been a bit creepy towards me, but I typically just brushed it off.
He's been a pretty good grandfather and loves my daughter deeply, to the point where he has stopped drinking and is working on his addictions so he can see her grow up.
This is huge, because he's had a very serious drinking problem for pretty much most of his life.
Overall, he spoils his granddaughter and puts her before even his wife, which I find hilarious because, frankly, she's a raging lunatic. Aside from general uncomfortableness around him, I've never actually had any problems with the guy. I've never really liked him that much because of how he's treated my husband in the past, but I put those feelings aside and have always tried to remain neutral towards him. That was all about to change.
Now, my daughter recently turned a year old. I've been breastfeeding since she was born and have yet to wean her entirely, as I enjoy the bonding and I've read so many positive studies about the benefits of breastfeeding until at least two years of age.
I've always made it crystal clear that if it ever makes anyone uncomfortable, they can let me know and I will gladly cover myself up as best I can when feeding my daughter.
Unless it's in my own home, of course, in which case they can just get the heck out.
Everywhere I go, I try to cover myself as much as I can without overtly covering my daughter's head, because she gets hot easily. So there has never been a time where anyone has seen anything that they weren't supposed to.
For a year, I've been doing this on the regular, including breastfeeding at my father-in-law's home during visits, and no one has ever said a peep about it.
Then, sometime last month, my husband goes over for a visit without me, and suddenly it's a big freaking deal. My father-in-law actually said to my husband, "Tell your wife to keep her freaking chest out of my face when she visits".
Of course, my husband was shocked and confused. My father-in-law and his wife, who had previously been very vocally supportive of breastfeeding, both explained that they didn't want me breastfeeding in their home anymore, and especially not around my father-in-law.
My husband pushed for more information because they had never expressed discomfort before and like...it's been a whole year? It came out that apparently my father-in-law had been looking at my chest when I breastfed my daughter. His granddaughter.
In front of his wife and kids. I had just never noticed because he always played it off as admiring his granddaughter and calling her cute.
Umm, what in the world??
I am repulsed and disgusted and feel violated in sooo many ways. And, as an added bonus, they all blame me for this situation! My husband’s step-mom messaged my husband and said that I should have had more decency than to be exposing myself like that in front of someone's husband. My husband and I are both floored, and he is clearly taking my side, but the family as a whole seems split.
Some say that I should be more discreet, and others are just as repulsed as me. Anyway, I just needed to get this off of my chest because I am so grossed out and uncomfortable over this whole situation.
And I'm so angry that my literal father-in-law would be so disgusting as to play peeping tom on me when my baby daughter is RIGHT THERE. To literally turn her eating into something inappropriate!
Heck, I'm still so angry just thinking about it. A few people have suggested to me that I not allow any unsupervised contact between him and my daughter from now on, which is definitely the plan as of right now.
As a victim of childhood trauma myself, I am especially vigilant about the red flags and keeping my daughter safe. Under no circumstances will he ever be allowed alone with my child, if we even decide to visit them anymore.
