The last thing you expect to do when you gave birth to your first child four weeks ago is cook a family feast for your in-laws – but that’s exactly what was expected of one woman
Making food for the extended family can be a difficult task, especially if you’re catering for a bunch of fussy eaters – but the last thing one woman expected her in-laws to do was criticise her cooking.
The woman alleged that she found out that her husband’s parents were coming around last minute, and she felt unprepared and embarrassed because she was conscious her house was messy. Her husband hadn’t checked in with her and ensured that she was okay, despite the fact she’d just given birth four weeks ago to their first child. Rather than spending her evening standing over a hot stove, she suggested that they get a takeaway to enjoy, but her husband kicked off.
She claimed that he immediately told her ‘no’, arguing that “his parents would find this rude and unwelcoming”, and advised her to instead just prepare anything for them, as long as it was “homemade”.
Of course, she felt a little disgruntled about the way things had played out, but she took his advice onboard and decided to whip up a mac and cheese dish, a recipe she chose on account of how simple it would be to make.
Unfortunately, however, once she served the meal to her in-laws, her mother-in-law shot her an “appalled” look, and she quickly realised there was some sort of issue.
Taking to Reddit, the fed-up mum wrote: “She asked if I really found it ‘appropriate’ to serve her and the family mac and cheese. I asked why not and she went on a rant about how disrespectful this was and that I clearly have no experience in what is right and wrong when it comes to hosting.
“I said, ‘excuse me? Who said I signed up to host an expected visit from them?’ and she took it as in I didn’t want them there. Her husband said they were just there to finally see the baby that I kept them from seeing for an entire month. That’s a whole month of his life they ‘missed’ out on. We had an argument and they decided to go home.”
She continued: “My husband said that deciding to serve his family mac and cheese was more offensive than serving them nothing at all. I told him I was too exhausted to cook their ‘traditional feasts’ that I was forced to learn from his mum.
“He took offence and said that I was being mean and disrespectful towards not only his family but his culture. I went inside the bedroom to stay with my son. My husband stayed on the phone with his family for an hour then kept giving me the cold shoulder and refused to eat what I cook in support of his family.”
In the comments, many felt her in-laws had been completely unfair, and confirmed that there was nothing at all wrong with mac and cheese.
One person commented: “Why on earth would your husband not tell you? Also, does he need a map of the kitchen? Also, traditionally family brings food TO the new mum, not the other way around.”
Another warned: “Girl come on! The issue here is your husband. He has no right to talk to you the way he did ever. Least of all after you have just given birth to his child. You have a very long and hard road ahead of you. I strongly advise you to keep some money separate for when you need to leave.”
A version of this story was originally published on 27 April 2023.
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