Don't be THAT Girl, Monday!

I love advice columns. The humor, wit and sarcasm and of course the giving of advice is something I can easily relate and connect with. Yours truly will actually have a column in a newly launching magazine this year. (Tune into Pampered Mommas for dates, details and of course awesome MOMMY stuff!YAY!) Anyway, the column I read in my Sunday paper yesterday, was so perfect for this post I had to share it!

"Dear Miss Manners: I have just returned home from spending a few days with my son, 36, and daughter-in-law, 34. They live in a city about three hours away.
My daughter-in-law’s mother has been gone for 15 years, so I sometimes try to give her advice.
It seems that this hasn’t been appreciated. I disagreed with their decision to move away from their hometown, but they had repeatedly invited me to come, so I did.
The guest room as well as the entire house was oddly decorated. None of the linens that I was to use matched, and my daughter-in-law painted the guest room walls a pale green, a color I don’t enjoy.
They offered to take me to museums or shops or other sites of interest, but they didn’t have a specific activity planned. My son said they wanted to take me to do whatever I chose. They took me to dinner once, and they cooked dinner for me the next night.
I sat them down and said it was clear they did not really want me to visit, and my son said they had worked hard to make me comfortable and that they had hoped this would be a fun visit. The whole time, my daughter-in-law said nothing but had the nerve to look surprised.
Then my son said that, if all I wanted to do was criticize, then maybe I should not come back.
I can’t believe that a girl I have cared for has turned my son against me, and I am at a loss as to how I should deal with her. She had the gall to tear up during the discussion, as if to make my son feel bad for her!
I do want to see my son, but I don’t want to be manipulated or disrespected. I am their elder, after all, but none of my suggestions is heeded, and my comfort is apparently an afterthought.

Gentle Reader: So you are the one responsible for giving mothers-in-law such a bad name!
Would you like to have a houseguest who sneers at your taste in decorating, who considers it effrontery to be offered a choice of activities and to be taken to dinner as well as cooked for at home, and who mocks tears as being a contemptible ploy?
Your son has offered you a reasonable choice. And your daughter-in-law was not the person who turned him against you."


DON'T BE THAT GIRL! Mother in laws take a serious reputation and this lady has some kind of major malfunction. REALLY? You told her to not wear high heels because it's inappropriate since she's tall. As a tall girl myself (5'9") I'm almost insulted. Models wear heels, they are tall, you don't have to be petite to wear heels. Telling someone to not wear heels, at least in my style world is blasphemous. They let you choose what you wanted to do instead of pre-planning an itinerary, HOW DARE THEY! This MIL has fallen off her rocker!

My thoughts, (I have to, my counseling side just can't help itself) your son and DIL went out of their way to welcome you to their life & home. You are grouchy and unreasonable. If you can't be nice don't go back. He has a wife get over it. The flaw is in your thinking about "losing" your son (which is ridiculous) you created the situation, so it's your problem to fix not theirs.

PLEASE.....DON'T BE THIS GIRL! Respect peoples efforts and double check yourself before checking someone else.