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'Months after giving birth, my MIL body shamed me. But my husband's reaction was the final straw.'

If you don't have any in-law drama in your life, this couple has plenty to spare.

A husband and wife's relationship has been completely blown up by his mother's behaviour, and of course, after both parties shared their sides of the story on the 'Am I the A**hole' sub-Reddit, their story has blown up online.

And it is... wild.

It all started when the couple announced they were expecting their first child.

"Up until my wife got pregnant, my mum loved her," he began. "I'm not sure WTF is wrong with my mum or why the switch happened, but after my wife got pregnant, my mum started being very clingy to me and started avoiding my wife at all costs."

She even began making snarky comments and telling people she "wasn't excited" about the arrival of her grandchild, he said.

Watch: What are the worst things your in-laws have done? Post continues below.

Picking up on the change in behaviour, the man let his mother know that this treatment of his wife was inappropriate.

"I threatened to go no contact with her when my wife was about seven months along and after that she snapped out of it for the most part," he wrote. "The comments 100 per cent stopped, at least. Though she still was clinging to me."

A couple of months after the couple welcomed their child, they invited the husband's family over for dinner — including his mother, his sister and her husband, and their 12-year-old daughter.

As they sat down to eat, the baby became fussy. The wife excused herself to feed and settle their daughter in another room, and as the family continued with dinner, the husband set a plate of food aside for his wife to eat later.

However, things got tense when the man's 12-year-old niece complained that she was still hungry. This put him in a difficult situation, as he hadn't catered for additional portions.

"I apologised and told her that I hadn't made any more, and offered her crackers, as I was putting my wife's portion in the fridge," he wrote.

That's when things took a turn.

The husband had stepped outside to smoke a cigarette with his brother-in-law when he heard a commotion coming from inside.

"My wife and my mum were screaming at each other," he said. "Apparently my mum (who saw me put my wife's food away) gave my niece my wife's portion of food.

"As I was walking inside, I heard my mum say, 'Looks like you can afford to skip a meal,' and slapped my wife's stomach."

The wife's response? Well... she hit her mother-in-law in the face.

"The whole house [goes] silent outside of my mum crying and holding her face. I tell everyone to 'get the f**k out'. Immediately, everyone leaves and my wife just turns toward the counter and leans with her hands on the counter and face down, eyes closed.

"I look at my wife and say, 'You too, leave, now'."

In disbelief, she questioned him — but he was adamant. So she gathered her baby, packed a bag and left.

As a way to explain his knee-jerk reaction, the husband wrote in his post that he grew up in an abusive household with a father who had physically assaulted both him and his siblings. But after some time to 'decompress', he realised his reaction may not have been ideal.

When he text his wife that night, though, she didn't respond.

For five days he tried to get in touch, but heard nothing.

Eight days later, his wife came home, but she wasn't there to reconcile. She was ready to leave the marriage. Handing over a set of divorce papers, she explained that the incident was the final straw. 

He recounted his wife's words: "You needing time to process gave me time to process the fact that I refuse to be in this situation any longer. I defended myself. I initially felt bad and remorseful but you making me leave when I needed you made me see more clear. I'm done. I'm sorry for what I did but there's no fixing this."

At this point, the husband made it clear he wasn't on board with the divorce, and said he only asked his wife to leave because he wanted time to process her hitting his mother. After having some time to think, he was now on his wife's side — and even said he had cut his mother from her life — but it was too late.

In a response post on Reddit, the wife shared: "I loved my husband dearly but his lack of action regarding his mother's behaviour was extremely disgusting to say the least.

"I tolerated his mum's behaviour long enough until I couldn't take it anymore... I had a mental breakdown when my husband told me to leave after kicking everyone out of the house, you should have seen his face when he told me to get out with a straight face and without hesitation. Our baby was crying at this point before I left, and I couldn't do anything but cry that night after I went to stay with my mother. 

"His mother sent me a text mockingly saying, 'I am going to file charges against you for assault, you fat little w***e! Now stay the f**k out of our lives!" She ended the text with a smiley face at the end," the wife alleged.

"Livid", the wife explained that she "did not want to be associated with this family anymore" and filed for divorce after what she claimed were many years of poor behaviour. 

"I told him that he overlooked his mother's behaviour one too many times, and I was done with him and his inability to establish boundaries with his mother. I recommended setting boundaries, but he didn't think it was necessary even after I told him throughout the pregnancy about the nasty names his mother called me when he wasn't around."

Then she made a valid point:

"What I can't understand is why he didn’t leave if he needed some space instead of being such a heartless bastard and kicking our child out with me."

And yes, good question.

There's a lot to unpack here, and it goes without saying that physical violence in any form is absolutely not okay. 

While the situation should never have spiralled to the point of a physical altercation, most of the people commenting on both the husband's original post and the wife's follow-up have dubbed the husband (and his mum) the a**holes in the situation.

"I'm so sorry you've been going through such a rough time," wrote one Reddit user. "I was furious for you when I read your husband's post."

"None of us could believe he kicked his vulnerable wife and baby out of their home, at night. He should have been the one to leave. I'm so glad you found safety with your mum," commented another.

Despite her husband begging her to try again, and even suggesting couple's counselling, his ("soon-to-be-ex", in her words) wife is standing firm.

"I've been ignoring his texts and calls ever since, and I'm waiting for a divorce hearing," she wrote. 

"My breaking point was reached when he kicked me and our child out of the house, now I need to do what's right for our child because she doesn't need to be in a toxic household where she has to witness the drama going on.

"I just want to be done with him."

Feature Image: Getty.

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Top Comments

little lucy 3 months ago 3 upvotes
What a arsehole.... sorry but when anyone sends a mother and their child out of the family home in this way.... that is cruel.