I’ve had the potential of having some really witchy mother in laws in the past. Alas, life has decided to finally cut me some slack in that department and give me a kind and wonderful woman as a mother in law. Chances are, you may not have been that fortunate.
If you can see a potential hot pot of disaster approaching after you get married to the man of your dreams because he’s tethered to the woman of your nightmares, here’s some advice on how to get her to like you and not make your life hell.
Use your wedding as a tool to win her over. One of the grave mistakes you could ever commit is preventing your future mother-in-law from helping you plan your wedding event. The first thing you need to do is find out what she is good at doing. You can turn to your future spouse to find out about his mother's strengths; so ask him privately and get to know about this. Make use of her strength to your advantage. It’s a win-win situation, you get some help and she feels needed.
Utilise the acting lessons you were taught in drama class while in secondary school. This will be a good chance to put them to practice. You will have to act like you are grateful to her even more than you have ever been grateful to your own mother. The more your future mother-in-law thinks you really appreciate her inputs, the better the situation. Do your best to make her believe that she really played an important role no one else could have done better. If she keeps thinking that you couldn't have done it without her assistance, then you are in for an awesome relationship with her.
Let some things slide. A mother-in-law will brag to her friends about how inexperienced you are and how skillful she is. Do not let this bother you at all as this is only a phase you have to endure for a time until she begins to discover who you truly are: a caring daughter-in-law who only wants the best for her son.
If all else fails, another way to win her over is to sneakily let her overhear you having a conversation with your future husband when you are telling him about naming your first child after his wonderful mother if it turns out to be a girl.
(Then, hope as hell for a boy. Haha.)