Dear Queenie,
One day when my daughter and her family were at my house visiting, I invited my husband’s mother to come over later in the afternoon so she could see her great-grandchildren.
However, she came by about 2 hours before the time I had said and she had a friend with her. When I said how early she was she said she would wait outside, but then she said she wanted to show her friend around our house and she just walked right in.
Queenie, my husband won’t say anything to his mother when she does this kind of thing. What can I do?—Annoyed daughter-in-law
Dear Daughter-in-law,
Your husband should be the one to talk to his mother, but if he will not do it, you will have to put your foot down – as politely as you can manage. In a case like you describe, you can stop her at the front door and tell her you are sorry, but she cannot come in right then, and do not let her in. She will be angry and she may not get over it, so you will have to decide whether you are willing to take that risk.
