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cellososweet

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THIS IS LONG!
It''s about Korean ILs. . . . please read it all if you can. :-( I''m completely torn apart.

When my DH and I got together, his parents were very negative about the whole situation. He lived at home at the time and they were openly hostile about the fact that I am black (I''m half black, half polynesian/white). He is Korean. I understand Korean culture just fine, so please spare me the "it''s a cultural thing." What started as a cultural thing has turned into an utter nightmare.

DH moved out shortly after we got together. He had been thinking about it as he was miserable. I guess I just helped things along. He moved in with a buddy and never looked back. His relationship with his parents has always been rocky, to say the least. His father was physically abusive and verbal assaults were common not only for him, but also for his other siblings and his mother. They pushed him to get perfect grades, and when he didn''t suceed, they put him down more. He would call me nightly during high school (when we were friends) and would be angry and feel stuck.

So. . .they hated me because I am black ( love that one-drop rule). We were civil to them until it started to border on harrassment/abuse. When he was decided what college to go to (he had been at a community for nearly four years), he weighed his options carefully. He wanted to go to a school that would be reasonable financially, offered a good financial aid packet and had the type of program he was looking for. It didn''t hurt that it was closer to where I was. He ended up going with the "lesser" state school because it offered him more than the "better" state school. So, since it was closer to me, and the area was more expenisive than where he had been, we moved in together after two and a half years of dating. We got engaged shortly thereafter. She would write him letters telling him that she would pay for a condo if he came back closer to where they lived and left me. She would pay for his schooling if he left me. She would take care of him. He just had to come home. He told her no. He was happy where he was. She begged him, while he was making his college decision to go to the "better" state school closer to her. The brand name of the school is more prestigious, but they offered little for my DH''s career. The school he goes to now offered better internships (which he got into! that''s my honey!) and most of all, a more one-on-one learning approach. He felt it was a better option as his self-esteem towards school had been all but ruined by his parents and he needed as much academic support as possible. Turns out it was a great decision. He''s done better in school that he ever has and the internship is really pumping up his resume!

So. . .she continues to email him telling him that he is ruining the family name. . . that if he has children with me they will have a difficult time in life due to being biracial (thanks captain obvious. . . i''ve never been there before. and besides, since when did being korean give you a free-ride from racism. i''ve heard many choice slangs before. we all have a ''hard time,'' it''s how you handle it. *sigh*). . . .more emails stating that she disapproves. . that the whole family disapproves (which is crap because they''ve all been really nice and some have even gone so far to state that they have no idea what the heck is wrong with his parents). more letters and emails stating that she is disappointed in his decisions (me, his career, his choice in college). Give him a break! He''s doing the best he can (which I think is pretty awesome, btw).

So. . he tells her (after she continues to say nasty things regarding us and our relationship) that she is entitled to her opinion, but that she is not allowed to speak badly about me and that if she continues to, he would cut her and his father out of his life. Wel. . . long story (you might know already). . .we went to court to get married. It had nothing to do with them (we planned it a couple of times. my parents were paying for a large sum and my father got laid off, so we decided to go to court get married and renew our vows when we could afford it. which we are next year. yay!). So. . he tried to let her know, she didn''t want to hear it. She calls a few weeks after we get married telling him that this is the last straw. He needs to leave me and come home. right now. Immediately. don''t worry about school, his job, nothing. she will take care of him. just leave me a note or sit down and talk to me, and leave me on the spot. He told her that we were married and that she was delusional (in as polite a way as possible). She didn''t call for six months.

FFWD. . . .she hears we are renewing our vows. . .now she wants to come around (doesn''t want to look bad in front of the family). she invites us over and we are hesistant. she tricks his father into talking to us (didnt tell him we were coming because he wouldn''t have stuck around. he''s the root of the problem). the evening is awkward. nothing gets said of importance. a few weeks later, she comes over. sugary sweet. compliments our house (which she had never been to in 4 years!). meets our cats. sugary sugary. gag me. gag my husband too. he was up on why she was there, but let her have her moment in the sun. Maybe she meant it this time. She said that she accepts our relationship and that she wants to contribute to the wedding. We tell her ok. Give her the benefit of the doubt. Later than night, we hear from his brother that he is appauled that we are "making" them give us money. and that we are "rubbing it in their face" how much my parents are contributing. She was obviously lying about wanting to contribute and sincerely accepting us. Surprise
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So. . .I lost it. I did. After four long hard years of hearing her verbally abuse my husband, I lost it. I got sick of him going over to their house and getting demeaned and belittled. Only to come home to me and cry and scream and be a wreck for days on end. I was sick of them not seeing my husband''s worth. I boiled over. When he was on the phone with her to confont her for b*tching when she got home, I got really angry hearing him get so upset and put down that I ran upstairs, told him I was going for a drive and screamed that his mother can take her god d**ned money and shove it up her hoo hoo. (though in a slightly more vulgar tone).

Well. . . he changed his contacts (phone, email) everything. he told me that he wanted them to leave him alone. He wanted to be happy, to not be on edge, to not feel like he was about to have a heart attack everytime the phone rang. So. . . we get a letter inviting us to thanksgiving. The contents of which are a verbal bashing about me taking him hostage for years. Saying that i broke their relationship. Saying that I am insecure in my relationship because I wouldn''t "allow" my husband to go to their home alone (though that was his decision. which he''s stated over and over).

So. .. we don''t respond to the letter and now she is calling his work. He just called me so upset. He told me he wishes she would just F off for a while. Not forever, but until she can behave herself and watch her mouth. We both know she is entitled to her own opinion and we''ve told her that. We''ve also told her that we don''t want to hear it.

I was nice for four years. I send thank you cards. Encouraged him to go to Korean New Years even though he really didn''t want to. I try to keep his culture alive in our house (helping him to read korean, since he''s not so good and i took four years in college). I wanted to teach our kids the language. But now. . . he''s just so p.o''ed with it all and I hate to see him like this. No amount of "I love you honey" and "I''m here for you" makes me feel like I''m even making a dent in the hurt he feels. He tells me I''m doing a fantastic job and that he loves me for all I''ve done for him.

But. . . How can I feel like I''m helping? Any advice?
 
Date: 11/20/2007 5:25:22 PM
Author:cellososweet

But. . . How can I feel like I''m helping? Any advice?
Yes.

ACCEPT what is. You/hubby are never going to change them or how they feel. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not you tried to be nice to them or any other thing. This has nothing to do with you at all, really. It has to do with their preconceived prejudices, and it has to do with their feeling that they can bully your husband....because he allows it.

You are outright dreaming if you think it''s ever going to change.

STOP letting them yank your chains. Cut them out completely, and stop "hoping" that they will have changed and that things will be different. They won''t. If they really do have a change of heart someday, TOUGH. They squandered their opportunities.

STOP feeling obligated to reply to them. Let calls go unanswered. Discard written communications without reading them. Consider yourselves an unbreachable island, and REFUSE TO ENGAGE.

That''s really the only way you''re going to get any peace......you OR hubby.

YOU (meaning hubby and/or you) are the ones that keep perpetuating this behavior because they keep getting a rise out of you. It takes two to argue.....and if you/hubby refuse, then there is no one for MIL/FIL to argue with.

You BOTH have to decide to cut the cord and refuse any further contact. That doesn''t mean they won''t try (for some while of time), but it means that you don''t rise to the bait, don''t respond, don''t engage at all.

I understand that''s not an easy task, but it''s what you have to do it you want it to stop badly enough.

Good luck to you.
 
thanks for your advice, but i think you misunderstood. i know they aren''t going to change. i know that. maybe i should have reworded it. i meant. . . . any advice on how i can get my husband through this? i know how much it hurts, even if it is inevitable. I was wondering if anyone had gone through it and what they did to help their husband/SO deal with their emotions on the situation.

Thanks again and I''m sorry I should''ve worded it differently.
 
I would encourage both of you to seek some outside counselling. I went through something very remotely similar many years ago with my inlaws, and I learned how to deal with it through therapy. That got it out of my system completely. Sorry, I don''t want to go into too many details here. I''m just wondering if that might also be helpful for your husband. It''s different, because they''re HIS parents, but surely hearing from an objective source about how to stand up for himself and not feel guilty might empower him and ease his stress. That''s my advice. It takes pressure off of you in a way, and it lets him see things in a truly objective light. Hope it works out.
 
cello, I''m sorry you both are dealing with such verbal and emotional abuse from his parents. I experienced a little of that with my first BF so I know how it can feel. That said, I dont think you can handle this on your own and I think you and your husband should go to a family counselor to help you figure out together - as a couple - how to deal with this situation and get past it.

As for the mother calling him at work (I assume she doesn''t have any other contacts, yes?), I would just encourage your husband to hang up. Seriously. Dont accept her calls. Or figure out how to screen them, either through the receptionist or secretary if he has one, or get a phone installed at his desk which shows the number calling in so he can let her calls go to VM and then he can delete them. It sounds like he keeps engaging with her and you both know how it always ends up so DONT ENGAGE. Take all the necessary steps to ensure that you never have to speak to them - at least for now.

Good luck....and please, consider counseling!
 
thanks :-) i think the idea of counseling is great. my husband has been going to therapy for over 2 years to deal with issues of self-esteem/negative thoughts that are left-over remnants of his childhood. we''ve been to couples therapy before they were cut off, but she was completely not helpful. so, i think we are intimidated to try someone new. but. . .for a million bad apples, there are always good ones, so we''ll definitely look into couples counseling. thanks again guys. it really means a lot to me that you have responded. we''re planning to talk tonight about how we are both feeling in regards to this. I''ll mention it and i''m sure he''ll go for it. i just want him to feel supported and it''s really hard because he knows how angry i am about how they''ve treated him and it''s hard for me to stay calm enough to be supportive when she pops up. thanks again. :-)
 
Yeah, I agree with the advice to stop feeding the fire. I can''t say I know anyone who has gone through this tough situation that you are going through. I am very sorry to hear that you have endured such abuse.

Some of the things that you wrote about struck a chord with me because I dealt with similar issues from my parents, although to a milder degree. How did I get through it? Therapy! And I have a fiance that listens but doesn''t allow me to dwell on what upsets me. After I tell him, he never mentions it again (kind of like he never heard it in the first place, which actually helps me to forget about it). And I''ve gotten comfortable telling my friends stories about my parents too although my fiance is the only one who will ever know the extent of their abuse. It helps to just talk about each situation and then forget about it.

I have to say that it is nice that FI''s parents are so close with him, and they are warm towards me, but it does hurt sometimes b/c they come over SO often that it reminds me of the relationship that I wanted but never got from my parents. How is your relationship with your family?
 
my parents are our rock. they always have been. welcomed him with open arms from the beginning. whenever he has a good day, he calls me, but when really great things happen, he always says he wants to call my parents afterwards. when he got into his internship thing, he was so excited to tell my dad. they have a really strong relationship. he looks up to my mum and dad. they give him advice when he needs it. they comfort him. they build him up when he needs it. they are genuinely excited and happy for him when good things happen and get upset when he''s upset. just like parents are supposed to. he tells me often how fantastic my parents are and how lucky we both are to have them around (as they both battled cancer when we were first dating). he says that he is lucky that at least he''s found good parents out there somewhere. :-) it warms my heart when i see him interact with them. you might grow up, but there''s a certain happiness you feel when the older generation looks favorably upon you and takes you seriously (especially if you have had a huge problem with that in the past [his parents]). so yeah. . . my relationship with them is rock solid, and his relationship with them is a dream. it''s so odd how one side is so idealistic and what everyone hopes for and the other is what everyone fears.
 
cello, dont give up on counseling just because you had one bad apple. I know, I''ve been to couples counselors that were total crap and should have had their licenses taken away they were so bad. But I found someone who''s golden! And when you find a person that you click with, counseling or any therapy can be such a great thing. If your hubby likes his current counselor, you can ask them if you can see him/her as a couple too. Or if he likes that person but they dont want to see you as a couple (though I dont know why not), ask them for a referral. In this sort of case, you''re looking for someone who has a specialty in "behavior modification (I think), to both provide counseling, as well as teach you both skills in modifying your behaviors so that you can deal with these situations without having each encounter totally derail you - does that make sense? I''m also a firm believer in counselors who give homework because it makes you work on things NOW, not waiting until something happens.

Lastly, there''s a great book my counselor made me read and I highly recommend you both read it too. It''s called "Toxic Parents" by Susan Forward. Get it! It has little check list tests in it to gauge the type of people you''re dealing with. I think you''ll learn alot and probably identify with some of the examples in there.

Good luck!
 
Aw Cello...

I understand what you are asking. While you understand Korean culture, it''s not the same thing as having it IN YOUR BLOOD. That is what your husband struggles with now as he deals with trying to get his mother out of his life.

And to clarify, this is NOT Korean culture. These are mean people, pure and simple. I know your story enough to know the difference between the meddling Korean MIL and the wacked out nutter regardless of culture. A lot of Korean moms are pretty bad before the marriage, but are more accepting afterwards. Obviously your MIL is not one of those.

I actually don''t know what to tell you at this moment (I''d have to think about it a bit more) but wanted to offer my sincerest sympathies. I''m in a interracial marriage as well...years ago I told my mom I didn''t want to date a Korean guy and I thought she''d flip. She just smiled and said, "I don''t think a Korean man can handle you honey." My mom loves me more than anything and my HAPPINESS is what counts.

Breaks my heart to hear what you MIL said about kids. I actually brought this up to my mom not long ago...asked her, would it be weird to have a grandchild who doesn''t look a lot like you? She laughed and said, "Don''t you know that half kids are WAY cuter?" LOL...not going to tell my bro that, as he has a Korean wife!

I am happy that you have great parental support. You''re really in a tough place and I''m sorry.
 
thanks everyone! :-) we talked last night about how we both feel regarding the situation. we also talked about hypotheticals (like what if she shows up at our house or at his work). basically, he is frustrated that she is so delusional. and of course i can understand his frustration. poor DH. i expressed to him your advice not to engage and he thought it was a good idea. at first he wanted to write her a letter, but then realized that is exactly what she wants. she wants to know that everytime she feels like waltzing into his life, she can. she can cause an upheavel whenever she wants. that''s what she wants to do. and he realizes this. it was very emotional. i told him that it makes me so happy everytime he is proud of himself for something, everytime he makes a decision on his own and trust his own judgement, everytime he reaches for his goals and gets them. i get so happy inside seeing him happy. and i get so pissed off watching anyone try to demolish what he''s worked so hard to acheive (his self-esteem). he understood that and told me how happy it made him to hear me talk about how proud i am of his accomplishments and how happy i am when he is happy. these types of things are always implied, but it''s always nice to hear, i suppose :-) he seems to be doing ok this morning and told me that if his mother calls his work and he happens to answer, he will hang up on her. if she comes to his work, he will have security refuse her entry. If she comes to our house, we will refuse to answer the door. If she gets belligerent, he suggested calling the police and having her removed. I was surprised to hear him suggest that. I''m glad he''s growing some balls and is looking out for his own emotional security. Unfortunately, I think it''s because he''s just so over the whole shebang. It''s going to be a really long struggle and I understand that. We''re going to look into couples counseling after the holiday. His counselor now isn''t really working. He''s a nice guy and is the best therapist he''s had so far in terms of the "tough love" "let''s get honest" type of talk But. . .he''s pushing medication a little bit, and my DH isn''t comfortable with that route (and neither am i) we both understand that medication can be very beneficial to people who need it, but we feel it''s grossly over-prescribed. His last therapist wanted to put him on an anti-depressant during the first session (this was the one that we went to together. she basically blamed everything tense in our relationship on my DH and didnt put any of the blame on me. i was NOT comfortable with that. i know we have an equal part in our issues). So yeah. . . were going to seek help elsewhere. They are in the same practice and I think they think a little too much alike sometimes.


Thanks again! We both really appreciate it. :-)
 
Morning cello! Glad to hear you guys had a great talk about this situation. Your combined plan for the time being sounds great and I''m glad he realized that writing a letter IS what she wants. She''s just pushing his buttons.

Good luck!
 
Good plan Cello. These things take time and a lot of effort when you least feel like dealing with it. Better to find a new therapist that suits your DH better. Please don''t allot yourself blame or guilt in this issue. There are just people who cannot be reasoned with, and your MIL is one of them. I know the advice I was given about a relative of mine was to cut her out of my life completely and not feel guilty about it, because she truly was creating a major emotional issue for me that was unnecessary and was affecting the rest of my family (DH and 2 kids). So, take your time, relax, and enjoy each other and the support you do receive from your parents. Take care!
 
Date: 11/20/2007 9:33:04 PM
Author: surfgirl
cello, dont give up on counseling just because you had one bad apple. I know, I''ve been to couples counselors that were total crap and should have had their licenses taken away they were so bad. But I found someone who''s golden! And when you find a person that you click with, counseling or any therapy can be such a great thing. If your hubby likes his current counselor, you can ask them if you can see him/her as a couple too. Or if he likes that person but they dont want to see you as a couple (though I dont know why not), ask them for a referral. In this sort of case, you''re looking for someone who has a specialty in ''behavior modification (I think), to both provide counseling, as well as teach you both skills in modifying your behaviors so that you can deal with these situations without having each encounter totally derail you - does that make sense? I''m also a firm believer in counselors who give homework because it makes you work on things NOW, not waiting until something happens.


Lastly, there''s a great book my counselor made me read and I highly recommend you both read it too. It''s called ''Toxic Parents'' by Susan Forward. Get it! It has little check list tests in it to gauge the type of people you''re dealing with. I think you''ll learn alot and probably identify with some of the examples in there.


Good luck!

Okay, I read through the original post and immediately thought "TOXIC PARENTS... TOXIC PARENTS... TOXIC PARENTS...!"

A friend of mine recommended Susan Forward''s book to me many years ago when I was dealing with my own parents (who are more toxic than a pile of nuclear waste). Susan Forward really knows her stuff and the book "Toxic Parents" provides some of the most helpful methods of dealing with people like your in-laws.

I''m glad that you and DH are communicating and actively pursuing help through counseling. A united front is so very important when it comes to dealing with whacked out in-laws. My parents are the trouble makers. DH has put up with so much and has literally stood between me and them on occasion. His support and love have made it possible for me to do what needed to be done regarding my relationship with my parents. My marriage and my children come first. Not my parents and their childish antics. It should be the same for you and your DH.

Hang in there.

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about the book. . .so funny you mention it. . . a while back (maybe 2 years ago) i saw that book and picked it up for DH. We lost it in the move, but I went on a hunt and found it last night. :-) it should make a good long-weekend read for us. i made DH a card with one of our engagement pictures on it where we are laughing. I told him that every day with him makes me smile. he loved it :-) it''s the little things, i suppose.

Thanks everyone!!
 
I want to express my support for you and your DH. You have been given excellent advice. Do not engage and do not respond. You have developed a sound plan to deal with your MIL, if she violates your boundaries. Do not hesitate to put these plans into action. Your emotional health and well-being depend upon it.
 
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