Sorry, but I need to have a moan about my mother in law. She goes out of her way to upset me and has such a clever way of twisting everything I say that I end up feeling like such a bad person.


She is on holiday at the moment (hurray!) but she just rang to say she was having a rubbish time and people are traeting her badly there just like people treat at her home. This was aimed to hurt me and as usual it did.


Last year she tried to make out that my husband(her own son) was having an affair just because he had been to visit a female friend without me. Its a good job my relationship with my husband was strong as she did not let it go for 6 months. She went as far as spying on my husband then ringing me to tell me he was visiting this friend. I already knew.


She can be really nice when she is getting her own way and I begin to think I must have imagined everything, then she blows over nothing and turns me into a quivering wreck.


She is nasty about my parents. I do not mind if she just kept her opinions to herself, but it really hurts me when she says things about my mum. My mum is my best friend and I think she is jealous that she doe not have this relationship with her own daughter, in fact she treats her own daughter like she treats me as we are easy targets.


I can not relax when i see her. She has destroyed any little self confidence which I did have, but I am not strong enough to just cut her off. She is good at crying and making me feel so guilty when she is not getting her own way. I do not think it is fair to keep her grandchildren from seeing her,Also I have talked with my husband and whilst he knowshow bitter and twisted she is, I cannot expect him to completely cuthis mum from his life,but I feel so trapped by her and really scared of her as she is such a strong domineering person who is used to getting her own way. I even feel sorry for her as she obviously has some kind of paranoia as she thinks we are all nasty to her.


When my husband is home from worklife is easier as she knows she does not upset my husband so she is a bit nicer. When my husband does go back to sea she will swoop in on me and try to control everything I do, then when I do something she does not want me to there will be the usual harsh words and I will be left feeling terrible again. I do not know how much more of this I can take. Has anybody got any suggestions how I can stand up to her? I would love to get on better with her, but I do not think I have ever said abad word to her( I've thought them, but not brave enough to say them!)