Gabriel Mizrahi

Dear Jordan and Gabe, last year, my husband and I welcomed our son.

Early on, his parents were unhappy with my decision to quit my job and stay at home with him.

In short, my salary did not make a financial impact on our family's well-being while staying at home with my son did, especially given a heart condition he had at the start.

Luckily, he's totally fine now.

But my mother-in-law kept passively aggressively sending me daycares with openings after my husband told them I would be leaving my job.

Like the true Sheila she is, she continued to check in with us on where we planned to take him for daycare, even putting her own timeline on the plan.

During his first year, our son constantly cried at my in-law's house.

To be fair, he was easily overstimulated.

Interesting theme on today's episode.

He was easily overstimulated, but my husband and I both noticed that he cried a lot more while he was with them than with others.

I think he could feel the tension in their home, and I'm also tense when I'm in their presence.

If my son cried while my mother-in-law was holding him, she became upset and sometimes gave him dirty looks.

She's called him a mama's boy and a wuss, and she consistently calls attention to his attachment to me in a negative way.

Yeah, he's an infant.

One time, I calmly and clearly told her that it's never okay to call my son names.

She started to cry and quickly redirected, saying she felt like she just couldn't please me.

She frequently pouts when she doesn't get her way and does not take accountability for her actions.

My in-laws also have a history of overstepping our boundaries.

For example, they dropped by our home to visit our son after my husband and I repeatedly said that we didn't want visitors that day.

At every family gathering, they ask if my son can have sweets, even though they know we aren't giving him sugar yet.