My MIL Barges Into the Bathroom with No Knock, So I Worked Out Unexpected Way to Teach Her a Lesson

Living with your spouse’s parents can be difficult. Especially difficult relations can be between MIL and her son’s wife. There are different rules and habits in each household, which can make things tough. But sometimes, situations can go beyond what you expected and become even harder to handle.

What happened.

So, my MIL (I’m a girl, btw) came to stay with us for a few weeks, til her home is renovated. The problem is that she has been randomly walking in on me while I’m in the bathroom. Thankfully, not once has she seen me naked because I started picking up on her behavior after the second time in a week.

She’d barge in, then turns and says, «Oh sorry», then close the door. I tried talking to my husband about it, but he kept ignoring me, then said, «So what if she has accidentally seen you naked? She’s family!» He seriously said that!

We have a lock and I could’ve used it, but I have past trauma from the idea of being locked in a room after my brother locked me in the bathroom when I was 5.

So I came up with this idea. I’d go inside the bathroom pretending to use it and wait for her to come (cause honestly? It’s deliberate at this point). When she «accidentally» barges in, she’d see me in a weird position. For example, doing a ballet stand, standing on the toilet, or standing facing the wall with my hands up, fully clothed of course.

I could see how awkward and weird this would be for her because she’d stand there for a few seconds trying to figure out what I was doing. It was hilarious at first seeing her initial confusion, but she told my husband about it, claiming «she’s caught me practicing rituals in the bathroom». I cleared things up and revealed the reason why.

My husband called me childish and said that I made his mom feel «terrified» by my behavior. He said I should’ve acted maturely and locked the door instead of playing games.

My husband and his mom are extremely upset with me. He still thinks it was ridiculous and is demanding an apology before she goes back to her home. I’m not sure if I will apologize. While it was a «me problem» that I couldn’t use the lock, it still feels wrong what she did. Maybe I’m wrong, too, but at least I got a bit of a chuckle out of it.

People in comments split into two opinion groups.

While one part of people in comments was furious with the MIL’s behaviour and husband’s reaction.

• So she outed her odd behavior to your husband and he blames you? She literally invade your privacy and watches you while in the bathroom and it is YOUR fault? OP could decide to pee fully naked and whatever she does in the toilet while alone is her own problem. © CraftySense1338 / Reddit
• Her husband’s lack of support is a huge red flag for me. He should be telling his mom to cut it out. © me0mio / Reddit
• He’s fine with his mom making his wife feel «terrifued/weirded out» MIL is intrusive and intimidating OP. But what OP has here is a husband problem. © Unknown author / Reddit

The other one suggested to OP to react with humor.

• Sneak in there in your best business attire and some glasses and with a pen and note pad. Be sitting on the toilet like a chair, and when she comes in, say, «for our session today, we need to talk about you sneaking in while women are using the toilet.» © Capt-Sylvia-Killy / Reddit
• I say get a water spray bottle, and treat her like a naughty cat. © ijustcant555 / Reddit
• I also thought she could have a whole table set up and put a deck of uno cards or something already in play, and a couple of face down ones on MIL’s side. When she walks in, OP says, «Well, it’s your turn?? I can’t keep standing here forever.» Or have a small whiteboard in there, professionally dressed up and be talking about the most nonsensical data presentation and then ask when MIL walks in, «You’re 5 minutes late?» © Bitter4LifeLord / Reddit

Interactions between mothers and daughters-in-law can become complex. There are plenty of stories about such kinds of relations. For example, one woman shared that her MIL wants a DNA test for her son to prove she cheated. Other woman shared how she and her husband were trying to have a baby, but her MIL decided to take it into her own hands.