MIL Tells Granddaughter Santa “Isn’t Real”, Gets Arrested After Things Escalate
Getting along with your in-laws can be a nightmare. What matters here, like in any other relationship, is proper communication, privacy, and healthy boundaries. But that’s easier said than done. Sometimes, your in-laws can be needlessly cruel and maliciously manipulative.
Redditor u/thrwitawy4g3tystrday recently went viral after sharing how her mother-in-law did the unthinkable: she told the OP’s 4-year-old daughter that Santa Claus isn’t real. However, things soon escalated way beyond that, to a scary extent, turning into every parent’s worst nightmare. You’ll find the full story as you read on. Bored Panda has reached out to the author via Reddit and we’ll update the article as soon as we hear back from her.
Oh, and just for the record, we believe that Santa is real. Anyone telling you otherwise is likely working for the Grinch.
Many families have beautiful Christmas traditions at home, whether or not they’re religious
Image credits: Jonathan Borba (not the actual photo)
One mom shared how her mother-in-law completely crossed the line when it came to Santa Claus
Image credits: Zinkevych_D (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/thrwitawy4g3tystrday
Here’s how some internet users reacted to the author’s story
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
The author later shared a very important update about how the situation with her MIL escalated
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)
The entire situation went from bad to worse
Image credits: Anete Lusina (not the actual photo)
The author of the story, Reddit user u/thrwitawy4g3tystrday, explained how she threw her extremely religious mother-in-law out of the house after the stunt she pulled. She then cut off all contact between them.
“I think she crossed an uncrossable line and that I’m justified in not letting her have a future relationship with my daughter or any other children we might have later,” the OP explained her reasoning to the r/JUSTNOMIL online community.
However, the story didn’t end just there, with some healthy boundaries getting established. Unfortunately, the OP’s mother-in-law went further and frightened the entire family. She started contacting her granddaughter by sending her gifts. She then planned to pick her up from school without the parents’ consent, for a “surprise adventure.”
The OP learned about her plans from the school office. Things moved very quickly from that moment onward. The girl’s mom informed the school not to let anyone take her daughter. She then rushed to the school with her husband. The police arrested the MIL before she could kidnap the child.
“My husband’s siblings have reached out to us and are completely horrified by what happened, and all said in their own way that they never expected things to escalate like this. While it was annoying to have it come to this before having their support, it is refreshing to have everyone on the same page about this finally,” u/thrwitawy4g3tystrday wrote.
Most abductions are carried out by family members or someone that the child knows
Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual photo)
The majority of children who are abducted are targeted by their relatives or people they know. According to the Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center, family kidnappings make up half of all reported abductions in the United States. Most children who are targeted are under the age of 6.
Meanwhile, the other half of all abductions are carried out by acquaintances and strangers. The former comprise 27% of all abductions.
‘Child Find of America’ notes that of the abductions carried out by family members, 78% of the abductors are non-custodial parents while 21% are other relatives.
In-laws need to understand that they cannot do whatever they want, without consequences
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
As we’ve covered before, sometimes, in-laws sometimes force their involvement in a couple’s relationship and their future. This can make the couple quite uncomfortable because the in-laws are always present in their lives. Always criticizing their decisions. Always trying to tell them how to do things.
In some cases, all of this comes from a place of love and caring: the in-laws want their kids and grandkids to be healthy and happy. However, they might not have the self-awareness that they’re being too pushy.
For some in-laws, however, it’s all about exercising control. They might not like who their child married, so they find ways, both subtle and overt, to put them down. In this case, you need to sit down with them and have a friendly but firm conversation about how their behavior is making you feel.
Set some simple ground rules for your relationship going forward. For instance, you could explain to them that even though you respect their religious choices, you feel uncomfortable that they’re pushing their faith on you. Or that you don’t like it when they show up unannounced. Whatever the issue might be, actively listen to their perspective. Show that you respect their choices, but stress the importance of your boundaries going forward.
Many readers were shocked by how the mother-in-law behaved
If all else fails, you could go with the story of St. Nikolaus instead of Santa. I am well aware that they are not the same person. But he existed and here in Germany we celebrate St. Nikolaus on December 6th - mostly by eating our body weight in chocolate.
Just to elaborate: we clean our boots on December 5th and put them outside the door. On the morning of Dec 6th there will be stuff inside the boot. Traditionally Oranges, Nuts, Marzipan. Nowadays mostly chocolate in form of a Nikolaus (looks a bit like Santa, but thinner) and other shapes like christmas baubles. Lots of supermarkets take child shoes too. They fill them up with sweets free of charge and you can collect your boot on Dec 6th.
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Whoa. Once again, Religious nutcases proving.. they are INSANE! That poor family, that poor woman! poor everyone except MIL.
The siblings who previously sided with the MIL? No great sympathy for them. Would be wholly reasonable of every year their Christmas card read “You encouraged a fanatic with mental health problems, who subsequently attempted to kidnap our child. Your judgement is questionable.”
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If all else fails, you could go with the story of St. Nikolaus instead of Santa. I am well aware that they are not the same person. But he existed and here in Germany we celebrate St. Nikolaus on December 6th - mostly by eating our body weight in chocolate.
Just to elaborate: we clean our boots on December 5th and put them outside the door. On the morning of Dec 6th there will be stuff inside the boot. Traditionally Oranges, Nuts, Marzipan. Nowadays mostly chocolate in form of a Nikolaus (looks a bit like Santa, but thinner) and other shapes like christmas baubles. Lots of supermarkets take child shoes too. They fill them up with sweets free of charge and you can collect your boot on Dec 6th.
Load More Replies... Whoa. Once again, Religious nutcases proving.. they are INSANE! That poor family, that poor woman! poor everyone except MIL.
The siblings who previously sided with the MIL? No great sympathy for them. Would be wholly reasonable of every year their Christmas card read “You encouraged a fanatic with mental health problems, who subsequently attempted to kidnap our child. Your judgement is questionable.”
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