Wise Strategies To Follow When You Are Dealing With A Bossy In-Law

A bossy in-law can make your life frustrating at best.  A bossy in-law may be your mother-in-law but can also be any other in-law; your father-in-law, sister-in-law or even a bossy grandmother-in-law.  It doesn’t really matter which in-law it is that is being bossy and trying to run your lives; what matters is that you find some strategies to deal with the situation.

If you have a bossy in-law, one of the best things you can do is let a lot of their advice go right over your head.  If they are always telling you better ways to do things, you can smile and say a simple thank you for the advice and continue on doing it the way that you feel is best.

Try to change the subject when your bossy in-law starts bossing you.  Ask them a question to get their mind onto a different topic.  Distraction is a powerful weapon against a difficult person.

Another way, and probably the best way, to deal with a bossy in-law is to allow your spouse to deal with them.  After all, they are not a bossy in-law to them; they are a bossy family member and there is a difference.  Your spouse can talk more openly with them and put them in their place in a better way than you ever could.  There is also less chance of there being hard feelings if your spouse is the one that deals with your bossy in-law.  Allowing them to do this will also help your relationship because it will help you to feel protected and show your bossy in-law that they will not allow them to boss either of you.

If none of these tactics work, the best thing to do may be to avoid the bossy in-law as much as you possibly can.  Sometimes this may be the only way to get the point across.

Image Credit: Tochka