On my birthday, I never thought my mother-in-law Linda would send me a “gift” of old clothes that don’t fit right.
Still, that was only the beginning. It had been years of her passive-aggressive behavior, and I was sick of it.
We chose to stand up for ourselves and teach her a lesson with the help of my husband Mark. We wrote down everything in the box, even the ones that were dirty, torn, or showed signs of being ignored.
There was also a card that said, “We may not fit your perfect image, but we are a family, and you can’t tear us apart.” and a framed picture of our happy family.
As if it were my birthday, we faked an invitation for Linda to come over and gave her the same box of clothes she had sent me. Seeing her shock, anger, and then loss was priceless.
Linda had been acting badly around Mark’s family for years, but they finally saw how she really was. Because they stood with us, Linda had no choice but to say sorry and stay away.
Being able to turn her mean behavior against her was a sweet victory that made me feel strong.
That event taught me that you need to stand up for yourself and let haters know that their actions will not be OK. You can get through even the worst situations with the help of people you care about.
