There can come a point where being polite starts to feel a lot like being complicit.

So, what would you do if your sister-in-law mistreated her kids and was a pretty all-around bad person? Would you keep going around her because she’s family? Or would you draw clear boundaries to prevent her behavior from becoming normalized by your kids?

In the following story, one mother finds herself in this situation and decides to cut off her SIL. Here’s what happened.

AITAH for cutting off my sister-in-law and refusing to be around her?

I (26F) have been with my husband (27M) for about 10 years.

We got together young and have been married most of that time. I’ve known his family for years. I’m not particularly close with them, but I’ve always been polite and respectful because they’re my husband’s family.

That said, I’ve completely lost all respect for his oldest sister.

She has four kids, ranging from early elementary to pre-teen age.

Her SIL treats her children pretty badly.

She curses at them like they’re adults, barely takes care of them, and is honestly a terrible parent. She regularly drops her kids off with whoever will take them so she doesn’t have to deal with them, and expects others to feed them because she’s too lazy to cook.

Her oldest child is currently in therapy and on medication. She has panic attacks when voices are raised and struggles with depression due to how her mother treats her (she’s treated the worst out of all the kids).

What really pushed me over the edge is that my SIL receives benefits for her kids and spends them on herself. Whatever was left, she gave to another family member to help feed their kids, and didn’t buy anything for her own children.

Fed up, she set boundaries with her husband.

I told my husband that I no longer want to see or speak to her. I genuinely believe she’s a horrible person and an even worse mother.

We have two kids of our own (one school-aged and one baby), and I could never imagine treating them the way she treats her kids. I don’t want to associate with someone who does that, and I don’t want her behavior normalized around my children.

I blocked her on everything and won’t speak to her when she’s at my MIL’s, and we happen to be visiting.

The whole thing has her MIL pretty upset.

My MIL noticed and asked why I’ve been treating SIL differently. I told her exactly why. She told me I’m wrong and that she won’t tolerate anyone treating one of her kids like that.

I told her that’s fine, but I just won’t come over anymore because I want nothing to do with SIL. She accused me of trying to keep my kids from her. I told her my husband is more than welcome to bring the kids over, or she can come to our house instead.

She said “whatever” and hung up.

AITA?

Wow! This is so sad to hear.

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit think she should do about this.

She should really think about this if true.

For this person, the MIL isn’t safe to be around either.

According to this reader, she should report it to CPS.

Yet another person who thinks the MIL is wrong.

She did the right thing.

Now, she needs to report that woman for the way she’s treating her kids.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.