Dear Rabbi Gruen,
I’ve been married for around 10 years, and I’ve listened to so many of your shiurim, and they’ve helped so much. Thank you.
I have a question that I’d like to ask, about my mother-in-law. My wife and children spend a lot of time at her home, not just on Shabbos but also on weekdays, in the evenings. The problem is that she is so critical of the way my wife and I are bringing up our children. We are more strict than she’d like, more particular about our children doing what we tell them to, and whenever my wife or I tell one of the children to do something, my mother-in-law jumps right in, yelling that we’re too strict, and telling the children that she’ll “protect them.”
I’ve asked her several times, very nicely and sensitively, to say anything she feels should be said to my wife or me in private, not in front of the children, but it hasn’t made any difference. I’m very worried about the influence this is having on the children and the way they see their parents, but I don’t know what to do.
Should I tell her that if she doesn’t stop acting this way, we’ll have to stop visiting? I really don’t want to have to take that step. Perhaps I could give her your answer to this question to read?
Thank you
QUESTION
