A mum has been left wondering how to deal with her mother-in-law after she refused to call her son by his real name.
Many people are blessed to have an amazing relationship with their in-laws, but some people just aren’t so lucky.
One woman has recently noticed that her mother-in-law refused to say her little boy’s real name and has taken to Reddit to ask how to confront her, reports the Mirror .
The new parents named their firstborn after the woman's father-in-law, while his middle name was taken from her mother-in-law's deceased brother - and both are very common names.
While the new mum had thought the names so common nobody would have an issue, that turned out to not be the case.
Rather than calling her grandson by his real name, the woman’s mother-in-law calls him pet names such as ‘angel baby’ instead.
On Reddit, the woman explained: "Well, MIL and FIL have been divorced for 14 years.
"She hates him, of course. She has only seen our son a handful of times due to COVID but I noticed at one visit that she only referred to him as “that baby” or “boo boo”.
"This has also been the case when speaking with her. She then shipped him a present to our house and it arrived addressed to “Angel Baby.”
"I brought it up to my husband and the next time we saw her he tried to bait her into saying our son’s name and she wouldn’t do it.
"So...my son is now almost 10 months old and has never once been addressed by his name by MIL.
"She apparently can’t bear to utter the name of her ex-husband even when she’s referring to an entirely different person.
"I want DH to call her on it but I’m not sure if this is a fight worth picking.
"She’ll just pretend like we’re crazy in response, I’m sure.
"Edit to add: we discussed the names that were chosen far in advance of my son’s birth with MIL.
"She voiced that she wasn’t pumped about FIL’s name being used but that it was fine as she understands that DH very much loves his father.
"Also, she was touched that DH wanted to honor his brother by giving his son his name."
People on Reddit were divided by the explanation, with one grandmother urging her to drop it.
They wrote: "As a grandmother of 9 I can tell you that I only call my grandchildren by their given names whenever they have pushed boundaries beyond limits.
"It's not because I have anything against their names as it is just what many grandparents do.
"This really is not a hill you want to die on here it is not worth the aggravation and frustration."
A fellow mum advised: "Playing devils advocate... I didn't refer to my son by his name until he was around 1.
"I don’t know why it felt almost weird to call him his name instead of a pet name.
"I would wait till he is older and talking and see if it is still a problem. IMO I wouldn’t want to make a fight about it. At least not yet."
But another commenter defended her, adding: "Your MIL sounds like a piece of work.
"You're the parents, as long as the name won't harm your kids social life or job prospects in the future, the decision of the name is up to you. She gets no input."
