The ManicaPost
Tete Barbara From My Heart —
From My Heart is a platform created for you to share your issues and get practical assistance. Together we can create brighter lives and happier people, transforming mind sets one day at a time in 2017. Send your heart to heart message to Tete Barbara and read her responses.
Dear Tete Barbara
My mother-in-law is causing havoc in my home since she came one month ago. When she came I received her well thinking that she would also behave likewise, but she has turned into a menace. She wakes up earlier than I do to start cleaning and cooking for my family. She invites people from other churches to hold prayers in my home without my permission. Of late, she has started giving away my children’s old clothes to whoever she sees fit without telling me. I want her out of my house, but I do not know how to make her leave without insulting her or my husband.
Tete Barbara Responds
You sound fed up and angry over the behaviour of your mother-in-law, but will you be equally infuriated if your own mother had done the very same things? The boundaries you have set are clearly regulated by the awareness that this woman is your in-law.
Your expectations from her require her to be respectful of your territory and also responsive to your desires. Remember, she is just like your mother and perhaps you should treat her as such. Yes, she seems to have overstepped some of her boundaries as a mother, but forgive her.
Talk to her about some of the things she has done, the same way you would speak to your mum. If you would never address your mum on the issue, then do not take it up with her either. Love her even when she is not willing to love you back and respect her even when she does not respect you.
Let love lead!
