Our parents usually don’t have bad intentions, but sometimes dealing with them can be a little tricky.

It can get to a point where they don’t really seem like they’re thinking of us as much as they’re thinking of themselves.

This woman’s mother-in-law was always coming up with fun surprises that they had to incorporate into their calendars one way or another.

Finally, they got fed up.

Find out what happened next.

WIBTA for telling MIL no more surprises?

My mother in law is, most of the time, very nice.

She loves her family and values experiences over things.

The mother in law had some issues.

The problem is, she has a habit of buying the tickets/booking the event without any input from the intended recipient, and then surprising them.

This has caused a lot of tension over the years.

For instance, two years ago she booked a vacation house for a week in July and gave us the reservation confirmation as Christmas gift.

She never confirmed from them.

Never asked us when / if we could take PTO, where we wanted to go, or if it was in our budget (she paid for the vacation house but there are still other vacation expenses!).

Last year Christmas she bought our family (me, my husband, and our two children) and herself tickets to an in event in a major city several hours away that required a hotel stay (that we had to pay for), again with no consultation.

There have been other similar instances.

She made new surprises that weren’t welcomed!

Tonight she told my husband that she bought tickets for a show for our daughter and herself.

We asked if our daughter had mentioned any interest, because it didn’t sound like something she’d be in to.

His mother said no, but it’s a surprise. We asked when it was.

A Saturday afternoon in the middle of our daughter’s soccer season.

They had to make a lot of adjustments.

My husband expressed that our daughter may not even be available on that day, and lightly suggested that surprises were difficult for us to accommodate.

MIL got mad and said she just wants to “be involved”.

I want to lay down a new blanket rule – no surprise events.

They needed a new rule.

I get that she likes DOING things, but for goodness sake, at least ask.

WIBTA to set that standard?

There might be a lot of different opinions on this story, so let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about it.

This user thinks there’s a better way to say no to these surprises.

This person thinks the husband needs to step-up.

This user thinks the mother in law is being too unreasonable.

This person also thinks the mother in law should at least confront before deciding for them.

This user thinks the girl is being too mean.

No one likes a pushy mother-in-law.

It might be time for her son to have a heart-to-heart.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.