By Frances, August 15, 2019 — Long before I became a mother-in-law, I remember hearing a song, “Mother-in-Law, Mother-in-Law.” At that time, it was just a song that had a beat, rhythm, and blues that I enjoyed while dancing, then one day I paid attention to the lyrics. It may have been because I had a mother-in-law whom I loved and adored and wondered why the song was a hit. It certainly did not apply to my mother-in-law.
My interest peaked when I realized that many people related to the lyrics, that was in their marriage, also the MIL conflict existed in many marriages among the people I knew. When discussed with small samples that I talked with, [each friend] stated that the MIL never liked her, she was not good enough for her son, [her] social background was a problem or other negative attributes. Many stated that no improvement in the relationships until grandchildren were born. It was stated that the MIL knew the mother had the lock and key and the MIL did want to be excluded from her grandchildren. The father-in-law seemed to have an open opinion about his daughter-in-law and did not offer any criteria about the DIL, which was also true with. The BIL, the sister-in-law often have a similar attitude as the MIL.
One F-I-L did say that he finally moved to another state and left the MIL behind, which pleased him.
I have a son-in-law who is a joy in my life. He is an ideal S-I-L, a model that I would cite as an ideal, S-I-L.
So the lyrics of the song include the following lyric:
“The worst person I know, mother-in-law, mother-in-law
She worries me so, mother-in-law, mother-in-law
If she leaves us alone, we would have a happy home
Sent down from below
Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, mother-in-law
Satan should be her name, mother-in-law, mother-in-law
To me, they’re about the same, mother-in-law, mother-in-law
Every time I open my mouth, she steps in, tries to put me out
How could she stoop so low?
Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, mother-in-law”
I am happy that the song does not resonate with me, and hope few people had and are having in-law problems. [For me,] MIL has a very different meaning from the song.