Dear MIMsters: My Mother-In-Law Has Never Given Me Peace Since Day One

My mother-in-law and I have not been at peace with each other since day one of my marriage.

When I got married at the age of 18, we were living in my mother-in-law’s house. I went from one problem to another every single day. Sometimes, she will send me out of her house when I disobey her, and my husband would not do anything because we were living with her.

It is only when my mother or uncle follows me back to the house to beg her, she will then allow me to come back into that house. We lived with her for 4 years. She never cared about my children nor my husband, even up till now.

She would insult my husband anytime he takes what belongs to her, even if it’s food. Never mind that my husband gives her money and follows her to the farm.

My sister-in-law would insult my husband and me, and my husband will just let everything go. When I gave birth, my mother-in-law never helped me to care for my children. When the stress became too much, I would pack to my mom’s place to get help.

My husband and I were bearing everything because we did not have money to rent our own place. We saved up money and we made a mistake to rent a house close to her. I never wanted us to go far away from her so that people won’t say I took her son away from her, but people still complained about us leaving her house.

Even after leaving MIL’s house, I was still going there to help her but she did not give us peace. So, when our rent was about to expire, my husband and I started looking for another house far away from her but within the same local government. Then something happened between my husband and me, which made me angrily leave to my parent’s house with my children without telling MIL. Even if I had told her, she would have sided with her son.

I stayed at my parents’ for 2 weeks and this woman never called me nor my parents to know why I left or to ask of her grandchildren. When I came back after my husband and I settled our differences, immediately she saw me, she started insulting and laying cursing on me, on my children and on my husband even right in my husband’s presence.

I rebuked everything she said in my mind. I did not reply to her. She told me not to ever step my leg in her house again and I never went back there again. She even went to the landlord of the house we were about to rent to tell him not to allow take the apartment because we are bad people and he listened to her.

Then, I got very angry with my husband because of the way his mother has been treating me since we got married and he did nothing. I went ahead to rent a place in another community without my husband’s consent when he travelled for one month and I was ready to leave the marriage.

When my husband got to know that I had left the area, he was angry at first but he later he came to join us in and he gave me back the money for the rent. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law was angry that I took her son away. So, she chased him away when he went to see after he returned from his travel. She even laid curses on him.

Since then, my husband and I have not gone to see her. This is almost 4 months now and she’s never asked of her grandchildren.

Now, people are telling me to go and beg her so that there will be peace. Since then, I have been having nightmares and I am always sick.

Last night, I saw MIL and SIL in my dream. They chased me and rubbed something on my stomach and MIL was laughing. I rebuked her before I finally woke up.

Please advice me on what to do. I have gone through a lot in her hands. God bears witness that everything I am saying is true and I have been praying about everything.