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Thanksgiving Host Kicks Out Family Scapegoat, Netizens Claim That’s The Only Decent Person There
Middle-aged women preparing food at a dining table, reflecting family tension around wedding planner controversy.
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Thanksgiving Host Kicks Out Family Scapegoat, Netizens Claim That’s The Only Decent Person There

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What is family for a person? You know, beyond the beautiful and high-flown words for which, for example, Dom Toretto is so famous, family – or rather, relatives – can also be an incredibly toxic environment. The source of numerous troubles and traumatic experiences. Even for an adult person.

Don’t believe me? Then let’s read this story together, from the user u/Enough_Cold_3590, whose mother-in-law had the misfortune of becoming a typical family scapegoat, and one can only hope that she managed to overcome all the problems in her life. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

More info: Reddit

RELATED:

    Sometimes, family can become not a haven for anyone, but a truly toxic environment, bringing only negative experiences

    Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    The author of the post recently hosted the Thanksgiving family party for the first time, and then the big family scandal arose

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    Image credits: Anna Tolipova / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    The author’s mother-in-law was the person to blame, according to relatives, as the author says most of them just dislike her heavily

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    Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    This time, the lady took heat for just paying the bill for the party, and everyone started berating her and her husband

    Image credits: Enough_Cold_3590

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    The host ended up kicking the mother-in-law out, and then decided to take this case online, seeking moral support

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    So, the Original poster (OP) recently hosted a family Thanksgiving gathering for the first time, and during the party, an unpleasant situation arose, which then turned into a major family drama. The thing is, our heroine essentially had to kick her own mother-in-law out of the house after her conflict with other family members.

    The author explains that her MIL had long been something of a “black sheep” in her family. She didn’t observe the religious norms common among her relatives. Everyone else considered her and her husband “obnoxious,” and her siblings also disliked her because their dad always held her up as an example to them when they couldn’t (or didn’t want to) find a job.

    And then, when everyone was already gathered, a conflict suddenly arose between the relatives when the family assumed that the MIL had stiffed the woman for the bill. She revealed that she hadn’t, and she had paid her, and the family was furious. Everyone began cursing at the woman and her husband, while she only cried and tried to calm everyone down.

    The OP tried to smooth things over, but the argument only escalated. At some point, the author decided to change course and asked the MIL to leave, because her presence, in the OP’s words, “was ruining the whole party.” So she did.

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    The poor lady stormed out in tears, but then accused the DIL of cowardice and pandering to her entitled fam. Interestingly, the mother-in-law’s dad later told the author roughly the same thing, so the woman even decided to take this online, seeking support.

    Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    By and large, the original poster provided no evidence that she and her relatives were right – either in this specific situation or in general – and that her mother-in-law was wrong. In fact, this woman just turned out to be a true family scapegoat – apparently simply because of her lukewarm attitude toward religion.

    At the same time, being a family scapegoat is a highly traumatic experience. For example, this dedicated article at Very Well Mind notes the possible consequences of this condition: trauma, toxic relationships and environments, normalizing dysfunctional behavior, and difficulties with boundaries. At least several of the listed signs can be found in our story…

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    Experts recommend several proven methods for coping with and overcoming such a negative situation in a person’s life, but of the five tips cited, for example, in this study, published on Psychology Today, only the last one – therapy – is likely applicable in our case. And, to some extent, another one – establishing personal boundaries and distancing themselves from those who consistently violate them.

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    It must be said that if the OP was hoping to find support or sympathy online, her hopes were not destined to be fulfilled. The overwhelming majority of commenters completely sided with the mother-in-law, subjecting both the author and her fam to merciless criticism. And the only way the OP could partially rectify the situation, according to readers, is to apologize to her MIL. So do you also agree with this point?

    However, most commenters unanimously sided with her mother-in-law, dubbing both the author and her relatives toxic, and claiming they owe an apology to the poor lady

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    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

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    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    What do you think ?
    Apatheist
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    MIL is absolutely right. If they used the service, they have to pay for it, and would lose if the wedding planner sued them. Depending on where they are, that could give them all sorts of problems that would have persisted for much longer. The rest of the family are favouring the moral implications over the legal; but there are time when what you want has to take a back seat to what you *have* to do. It's also hardly the MIL's fault that the kids are told to be more like her.

    Mel in Georgia
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is one family I am very happy I don't know. So much drama!

    Lee Gilliland
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 months ago

    This comment has been deleted.

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    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What a horrendous group of people.

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    Apatheist
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    MIL is absolutely right. If they used the service, they have to pay for it, and would lose if the wedding planner sued them. Depending on where they are, that could give them all sorts of problems that would have persisted for much longer. The rest of the family are favouring the moral implications over the legal; but there are time when what you want has to take a back seat to what you *have* to do. It's also hardly the MIL's fault that the kids are told to be more like her.

    Mel in Georgia
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is one family I am very happy I don't know. So much drama!

    Lee Gilliland
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 months ago

    This comment has been deleted.

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    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What a horrendous group of people.

    Load More Comments
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