How to deal with an overprotective mother-in-law

For many people, marriage is a life-long relationship. It begins when a man and a woman decide to live together as husband and wife. Normally, there is a small ceremony during that time, where various friends and family come to witness the beginning of the marriage. However, even without such a ceremony, when a couple decides to marry, they are recognized as husband and wife. It is shortly after marriage that many couples begin to face challenges, such as how to deal with an overprotective mother-in-law. This happens when a mother of the married couple becomes overly protective of her “child.”

For some parents, it is very easy to let children go and have families of their own when they become adults. However, for some people, it is not that simple. Some parents refuse to admit that their children have grown up and married. They want to be around them to make sure their spouses treat them well.

Although both men and women can be overprotective with their married children, the case is more frequent in women. They are the so-called mothers-in-law. It does not matter if it is your son or your daughter who is married; they always want to be protective. Sometimes they are protective for genuine reasons, while other times they are guided by selfish motives. However, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that you prevent those parents from wreaking havoc on your marriage, should you be married to your son or daughter. Here are some tips on how to deal with an overprotective mother-in-law.

1. Establish a foundation of trust between her and you. Give him reasons to trust you and believe that you are capable of taking good care of his son or daughter without being forced to do so.

2. Establish communication channels with her. In this way, you will learn why it is so protective. You are probably not the problem. Rather, she could be the problem and she’s just exaggerating because she feels like she’s taking her son or daughter away from her.

3. Avoid being overly possessive of your spouse. In this way, the mother-in-law could abandon her militant attitude and stop being overprotective with her son or daughter.

4. Cultivate friendship with your mother-in-law. By doing so, they may stop seeing you as a threat and start to regard you as a friend.

5. Get people she trusts and respects to talk to her about how they feel about her attitude and overprotectiveness.

6. Don’t try to come between her and her spouse. Doing so would make her more protective, as she will feel like you are trying to steal your spouse’s affection.