Getting on with your in-laws isn’t always easy. Although you might be madly in love with your partner, it doesn’t mean you always take fondly to their family. One man though clashed with his in-laws so much, he decided to buy a spider to stop them coming round. Posting on Reddit, the man said that his in-laws are ‘insufferable.’
He explains: ‘Privacy means nothing to them, and my wife refuses to set boundaries. ‘They will come around every day unannounced to visit my wife/play with our kids. So not only do I never get a break from my mother in laws constant nagging, I have no privacy from them.’ He explained that after he noticed his mother-in-law is arachnophobic (afraid of spiders), he decided to use it to take drastic action.
He said: ‘A few months ago she went crazy after a (wolf?) spider was simply in the corner doing nothing. Panic attack and all. ‘So I got the idea to get a tarantula as a way to prevent her coming so often. It’s in a big enclosure in the living room.
‘Asked wife beforehand if it’s okay, but didn’t tell her the motivation. Worked like a charm, the dad still comes but the mother can’t stand to be in the same house as it.’ Posting in the Am I The A*shole subreddit, he wanted to know if he was in the wrong for not telling his wife his true motivations for getting the pet ‘She’s continued to ignore my concerns about boundaries for years, I don’t think I had a choice. Plus the tarantula makes a cool pet,’ he said.
Most people agreed that it was fine because he had asked his wife about getting the spider first and she is aware of her mother’s phobia. A few even suggested that maybe his wife backed the idea because she’s sick of her parents too but doesn’t want to admit it.
One person said: ‘It makes me think she really does want space from her mom but doesn’t want the fallout of trying to get it.’ Another added: ‘I’m sure she’s aware of her mother’s arachnophobia and thought she could play dumb and have it be a win-win.’
