Anyone else no/low contact with in-laws? How do you navigate that with SKs?
I’ve recently decided to go low contact with my MIL due to her constant condescending remarks, unsolicited criticism, and disrespect, and also not wanting to function as a manipulated go-between for her and my husband when she can’t get ahold of him (sometimes he can’t stand her either and needs a break). DH thinks she’s a narcissist and is probably correct. And my neurodivergence makes me like a bleeding person in the water to the sharks (narcs), they see me as basically a useful idiot they can manipulate and use as a laughing stock, and tend to go from “loving” me to actively hostile as soon as I set a boundary.
So, while I don’t wish to cut her off completely, I refuse to stop by regularly like we used to. I’m tired enough from being a stepmom and just no longer have the energy for people who only wish to belittle me. My husband knows this and is in my corner in theory, he’s been NC before with her and is close to it again… but in practice, he keeps wanting me to come along when he drops SD off at her place. Probably because he doesn’t want to face the bitch himself (she is insulting to him too, I count an average of 2 digs for each of us, per visit).
And I don’t wish to keep SD from her grandmother in any way, shape, or form, since she’s still young enough not to be a target for her bullying… yet. (If it happens, I trust DH will cut her off entirely.) Or more like I don’t wish to be *accused* of doing that, since in reality, me avoiding her should not change anything. So I’m wondering how other NC/LC with in-laws folks are handling it? It just adds a whole new layer of challenge to stepping.