The Brat Spoiling Is A Lie

I’ve submitted a few stories about my pain-in-the-rear mother-in-law, including this one. She is very generous… with other people’s time and stuff. My husband came home one day telling me his mother stopped him to ask a favor… or rather tell him she wants to have the neighbor over for dinner… at my house, of course, where I would do all the work. Now, normally, I would tell her no, but I liked this guy and his wife had passed away just a few months earlier and I adored her. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my [Mother-In-Law] was trying to get her claws into this poor man. Spoiler alert: she didn’t.

At the time, my firstborn was only about eighteen months old and was eating at the table with us. Of course, a toddler is a bit picky, so she would not eat certain foods. Seeing her opportunity to prove how superior she was, [Mother-In-Law] started berating me.

Mother-In-Law: “You should make your child eat what is put in front of her! You’re a horrible mother and you’re raising a spoiled brat!”

She went on for several minutes with my miserable (still in the dark about his mother) husband chiming in. I let them go on ticking me off and making [Neighbor] noticeably uncomfortable.

A few minutes after the b****-fest ended, I casually offered [Neighbor] some broccoli, knowing full well he would politely turn it down because I know he does not like it. My kids love broccoli, so we always have some at dinner. 

Me: *Calmly* “It’s quite funny, [Neighbor]. When an adult turns down a food they do not like, it is no problem, but if a child, who can be easily bullied, does so, well, we must force them to eat. Perhaps I should take a fork and force you to eat some whether you like it or not. I mean, we wouldn’t want you to be a spoiled brat or anything.”

[Mother-In-Law] turned red. [Husband] stopped eating and looked at me with shock. (He realized he had screwed up and was so going to get it later. He did and never did that again.) I just kept on eating and smiling. [Neighbor] had a wide grin on his face and I found out later that he was sure to let all the neighbors know that I had put [Mother-In-Law] in her place. [Mother-In-Law] has a reputation in our neighborhood of being a nutcase; she just doesn’t know it.

Funny, [Mother-In-Law] didn’t talk the rest of the night and never asked us to have him over again. Wonder why?

Related:
The Preemie Clothes Are A Lie
The Room For Rent Is A Lie
The Cake Price Is A Lie