I Kicked My 72-Year-Old Mother-in-Law Out of the House at Night

A woman wondered if she was wrong for kicking her 72-year-old mother-in-law out of her house after she had tried to help the woman clean her home to prepare for the imminent arrival of her baby. Netizens weighed in.

A 36-year-old Reddit user and her 41-year-old husband lived together in their home and often had his mother come and stay with them during the holidays. This was never an issue for the couple, as the woman and her mother-in-law got along well.

The woman clarified that her mother was warm and sweet and nothing like the horror stories she had read about other people's mothers-in-law. Still, she would be a bit overbearing.

After sharing that her mother-in-law had no sense of boundaries, the woman explained the situation that had led to her kicking the older woman out of her house late at night.

Why Did the Woman's Mother-In-Law Move In?

The woman explained that her mother-in-law had specific ideas about how things should be done and did not respect boundaries. Whenever she stayed with the woman and her husband, she would take over the kitchen, cooking all the meals and putting things back in the wrong place.

Although the woman didn't mind her mother-in-law cooking, it bothered her that she rearranged the kitchen and insisted that her way of packing things was more logical. However, since the woman's mother-in-law only visited them for the holidays, she was willing to put up with the "mild annoyances."

That all changed one day as the woman's mother-in-law moved in with them to help prepare for the birth of their daughter. The woman and her family felt the baby was a miracle as they didn't think she would fall pregnant, especially so late, so when the woman's mother-in-law found out about the baby, she was overjoyed.

The woman and her husband both worked long hours, so her mother-in-law offered to move in with them so she could help them prepare for their daughter's arrival. The woman shared:

"She arrived a few days ago and set herself up, then she started with the cleaning."

While the woman's mother-in-law was well-intentioned when she arrived at their home, things soon went awry, and the woman was forced to kick her out of their home.

What Did the Woman's Mother-In-Law Do?

The woman enjoyed collecting trinkets from garage sales. Although she admitted that many people would think it was junk, it was something she enjoyed doing and didn't feel it cluttered her home too much.

She admitted that she had more than she needed in her house but said it was still a tidy place and didn't look like she was a hoarder. However, the woman's mother-in-law liked things to be "surgically clean."

One day, the woman returned from work to find her home turned upside down. Her mother-in-law had gone through all the woman's cabinets and removed anything she thought was junk. She also took several bags of items to Goodwill before the woman arrived home.

The woman was furious and asked her mother-in-law why she would do this, to which her mother-in-law replied that she was tidying the house for the baby and that it would be perilous for the baby to live in a cluttered home.

The woman's mother-in-law picked up another bag of the woman's belongings and made for the door before the woman lost her temper and told her mother-in-law she could get out right then and there.

The mother-in-law was shocked that the woman was serious and said she had nowhere to go as it was 9:30 p.m. The woman shared:

"I booked her a hotel room and called a taxi."

However, when the woman's husband arrived home an hour later, he was furious with her. He told her she was being ungrateful for everything his mother was doing to help them prepare for their baby's arrival.

What would you do if you were in the woman's position? Do you think she was justified in kicking her mother-in-law out of the house, or do you think she overreacted to the situation?

Some Reader Comments

Kicking a mother-in-law out of one's house is seemingly not uncommon. If you want to read another story of a woman kicking her mother-in-law out of her home, you can find one here.