My mother-in-law continually undermines my husband in front of our daughter
DEAR DEIDRE: MY horrible mother-in-law goes out of her way to make my husband’s life a misery.
She’ll even use her own granddaughter against him.
My husband is 45, I’m 43 and our daughter is 10.
His mother is 70.
His mother has always been cruel to him – she puts him down and plays him off against his siblings.
Whenever he starts to pull away, she is so sweet to him that he is drawn back in.
I believe she’s a narcissist.
She is now involving my child in her manipulative games, and that’s not acceptable.
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She treats my daughter like a princess and sides with her over everything, acting against us when we discipline her.
She even bought her a mobile phone when we said she couldn’t have one. And she has even told our daughter that her dad is lazy and a terrible son and father.
What can I do?
DEIDRE SAYS: Your mother-in-law is toxic and is not a good mother to your husband.
Please contact Family Lives (familylives.org.uk, 0808 800 2222) for advice and support dealing with her.
Also look at myhorridparent.com, which has lots of information on coping.
Your husband might like to think about counselling.
My support pack, Standing Up For Yourself, might help you to tell her how you feel.
Perhaps it’s time to break off contact, or at least limit it, for a while.