Relationships Talk

The relationship of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is often stereotyped as complicated and fragile. They both might have different ways of doing things (especially managing household chores) and different personalities but one cannot ignore the fact that both the women care for the same person and family.

No one knows a woman’s husband better than her mother-in-law and combining it with her years of experience of married life, a mother-in-law can dole out some great marriage advice. We asked seven women the best relationship advice they got from their mother-in-law and here’s what they shared.

“Being a working mother, I used to feel guilty thinking I am not giving my 100 per cent to my family. When my mother-in-law came to visit our house last month, she saw my predicament and advised me to take it easy. She had a successful career herself and explained how having a job is beneficial for the entire family. She told me it is okay to let your kids stay at daycare for a few hours, let cook prepare meals for the family and your husband drop kids to school or help them in homework. A professionally-successful woman cannot have it all and there is nothing wrong in that.”

“After having kids, I decided to quit my job and my husband became the sole breadwinner of the family. My mother-in-law asked me to continue maintaining a separate bank account. Surprisingly, she also asked me to keep some cash handy always and keep saving money that I can splurge only on myself.”

“On the first day of our marriage, my mother-in-law taught me how to handle a fight with my husband. She asked both of us to think before speaking anything in a fit of rage and never bring up another argument when your partner is already upset.”