So my girlfriend and I were watching ‘trading spouses’ this evening (it was the episode with the nice hypnotherapist and the crazy religious hick) and I kind of got to joking about what it would be like if her and I switched moms. It made me wonder - What would it be like living with your SO’s mom (or mother-in-law)?
I hate to admit, but I think I would have a better time of it than my girlfriend. Her mom is a lot more lighthearted and humorous than my mom. Dinner conversations would be less tense. I don’t know how her mom would feel about the fact that we have gardeners do all the yardwork here- she might love having to not do it herself, on the other hand, she might have the kind of work ethic that it would make her feel awkward/lazy/insulted. I don’t think she would fight a lot with my mom’s boyfriend, since they actually would have pretty similar personalities (my mom, on the other hand, is a total opposite of her boyfriend)
I think my own mom would have a stressful time coping with the amount of day-to-day work around the house. That isn’t to say that she’s lazy, far from it. She’s just not used to the sheer volume of it that my girlfriend’s parents do (they live in a rural area). She probably also wouldn’t enjoy the aroma of living near a dairy (the slightest poo smell makes my mom dry heave) and the dogs might give her fits. My mom doesn’t like dogs, especially friendly, run-up-and-lick-your-face dogs, of which my girlfriend has four of at her house. The other thing that might cause friction is that my mom plays the violin (bluegrass) and spents virtually all of her free time practiciing, sometimes at late hours. But she gets extremely grouchy if people are so much as whispering in the house while she is trying to sleep.