Exes can be an awkward topic, so many couples choose to er on the side of caution, by simply not discussing the subject at all - after all, an ex is an ex for a reason. But, unfortunately, it's not always as simple as that, especially when families are involved.
One woman knows this all too well, having spent years listening to her mother-in-law gush over her husband's ex-wife, inviting her parties and holidays and regularly discussing how much she adored her.
However, things recently took a turn for the worst, when the woman was busy decorating she and her husband's new home, along with some help from her mother-in-law, and she was left horrified by part of the decor.
She arrived home from work one evening to discover her mother-in-law had hung up a picture of her husband and his ex-wife on their wedding day, in the middle of their new home, and she was furious.
"My husband and I have just bought our first house together, we're loving it and we're excited to decorate it together, but unfortunately my husband travels a lot for work and we've already had new furniture orders arrive," she wrote on Reddit's AITA forum. "I couldn't manage it it all myself, but my mother-in-law offered to help and I agreed."
Yesterday the woman got back from work at around 8pm and discovered her mum-in-law had covered one of the walls with framed pictures, mostly from her husband's childhood and various photos from graduations and birthdays within the family. However, she was gobsmacked when she noticed a photo of her husband and his ex wife on their wedding day, hanging from her wall.
"For context, my mother-in-law 'adores' my husband's ex, she brings her up all the time and reminisces about the past years with her. Not only that but she includes her in events and holidays which caused issues between us," she continued.
"I lashed out at her, asking what the h*** she put that picture on the wall for and how she thought it was an appropriate thing to do. I told her to take it down in that instance but she defensive and said 'this is part of Derek's life and you can not erase it,' then went on about how many hours she spent working on this wall and how I should try to be a little bit more appreciative."
The woman then completely lost her cool and "flipped out" on her in-law, who started asking what is wrong with her and branding her "crazy."
"I told her to take the picture and leave but she tried to say that it wasn't just the ex in that picture but my husband as well but I told her I'd throw it out if she won't leave," she wrote. "She left but started texting me saying stuff like jealous, bitter, overbearing, controlling etc. I responded telling her she disrespected me in my own home by what she did and proceeded to ban her from the house."
Her mother-in-law then called her son and sent him a screenshot of the "ban," prompting him to call his wife to find out what had happened.
"He then said his mum ought to know better but she didn't and I was right to be angry but banning her from the house was an overreaction - like a crazy overreaction," she continued.
"He tried to get me to call her and cancel the ban but I refused. He then ranted about how unfair I was being to make such decision when it's our house not just mine. My in-laws are upset with me saying I went overboard with this reaction and urged me to let my mother-in-law back into the house and drop this whole thing like it never happened."
The woman then turned to Reddit to question whether she had, in fact, overreacted, or whether she was justified in banning her mother-in-law from the house.
"It was a super inappropriate thing to do, your mother-in-law knew exactly what she was doing and now she is succeeding in driving a wedge between you and your husband," one Reddit user responded. "He should 100 percent have your back on this and his mother should apologise. Good luck for the future. If this is an indication of how things are going to be, you may well need it."
Another agreed: "Hang up a photo of you and your ex and see how hubby feels about it. Oh, it's childish and immature? Well so is his mother. He needs to back you here. If he doesn't, is only going to continue to happen. She's going to keep on doing this to you until he stops it or you two break up. It sounds like she's trying to do that so he can get back with his ex."
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