Do your parents and your husband’s parents understand modern child-rearing? In my case, my mother is very understanding, but my mother-in-law is quite strict. She holds on to her stubborn idea that “a wife should be like this.” There is no “flexibility” whatsoever. Because of this, I was on the verge of losing the ability to love my newborn child. This happened a few years ago. After giving birth, both I (Mika, mid-20s) and my husband (Takafumi, early 30s) were at the mercy of our mother-in-law, and it was a terrifying experience.
Maybe my mother-in-law is too strict, or maybe I’m just not considerate enough, but whatever I do doesn’t live up to her standards and it seems to upset her. Still, she’s my husband’s mother, so I’d like to get along with her somehow… But she’s constantly making nasty remarks, even in front of our newborn grandchild. What’s worse, she even came along to my parents’ house when I was planning a visit home. I wonder if she’s worried about me and feels that as a parenting expert she needs to teach me all sorts of things? It seems a bit excessive… Is this normal?
Script writer:Madoka Monoe Comic artist:Crono Editor:Misa Ishii