In-Laws

I heard all these horror stories of mother in laws growing up. I always wondered what mine would be like. Would she require us to come for Christmas dinner every year or she would be upset with us? Would she want to live next door to always be able to see grandchildren and know what we were up to? Would she be the possessive type over her son?

Oh How I LUCKED OUT! My mother in law had gone through 4 weddings and marriages before mine! They had gone through some trials with some difficult daughter-in-laws, and they had experience with their sons getting married. I had a lot more space than I thought I would have, I have a lot better in-laws than I thought I would have, and I have a lot less stressful Christmas's than I thought I would have.

One principle that my in-laws get is letting the newly married couple gain an identity for themselves. She gives us opportunities to grow together while still being involved and letting us know that she loves us dearly. I love my second mother, and what she has done to let my relationship grow. 

     President Spencer W. Kimball also (page 328) cautioned parents and married adult children regarding their relationships: "Frequently, people continue to cleave unto their mothers and their fathers …. Sometimes mothers will not relinquish the hold they have had upon their children, and husbands as well as wives return to their mothers and fathers to obtain advice and counsel and to confide, whereas cleaving should be to the wife in most things …. Couples do well to immediately find their own home, separate and apart from that of the in-laws on either side. The home may be very modest and unpretentious, but still it is an independent domicile. Your married life should become independent of her folks and his folks. You love them more than ever; you cherish their counsel; you appreciate their association; but you live your own lives, being governed by your decisions, by your own prayerful considerations after you have received the counsel from those who should give it. To cleave does not mean merely to occupy the same home; it means to adhere closely, to stick together."

I love this and hope that when my children that I will have someday get married, that I will remember this and let them experience a good transition.