37 Ways to Deal with Mother-In-Law

Some of us have fantastic mother-in-laws from heaven while others come from hell. As a daughter-in-law, (or son-in-law), you will need to be strategic in your management.

Here are my 37 Ways to Deal with Mother-in-law:

1. Be respectful to her
2. Be polite when talking to her
3. Be sensitive to her different needs
4. Be sensitive to her emotional changes (she may be going through menopause)
5. Be aware of her sense of loss of a daughter
6. Bring her out once in two weeks
7. Take her to her favourite restuarant
8. Remember her birthday
9. Send her gifts that she really like
10. Remember her wedding annivesary
11. Build rapport with father-in-law (backup just in case)
12. Be a good boy infront of both parents-in-laws
13. Remember your father-in-law’s birthday (though most of the times he doesn’t bother)
14. Remember your mother-in-laws’ important dates that matter to her
15. Find out her interest
16. If you have lots of free time, join a course with her (e.g. cooking class)
17. Treat her to dinner once in a while
18. Initiate family lunch
19. Be nice to your sister-in-law (as well as brother-in-law) so that you can hear more about her “secrets” and things to note
20. Turn up early for family dinner to help in kitchen
21. Volunteer to wash the dishes
22. Bring in extra food (meant to be surprises)
23. You got to know what she likes to eat
24. Sing praises about how hard she cooks in front of family members
25. Deshell the prawns and crabs before giving to her
26. Get food for her even though she said it is full
27. Still get gifts for her even though she said “it is a waste of money”
28. Don’t touch her possessions
29. Ask for permission if you want
30. Be genuine in your curiosity and encourage her to share with you about her history
31. Call her when she is unwell
32. Offer to take her to the doctor
33. Offer to run errands for her
34. Call back at meal times to check if she has eaten
35. Do ask her if she wants to visit any particular place during the weeekend
36. Offer to drive her around
37. Buy her mooncakes during Lantern Festival