So my future MIL is a really awful woman. Really awful. And has only become more unbearable since I feel pregnant and worse still since planning our wedding. These are just some of the things she has done that have upset me. Yes, I am pregnant and hormonal so I may be a little sensitive, but she is still awful.

• She physically assaulted me. She stood on my toes, pulled my hair roughly and put her face right against mine and said ‘there are ways to get your message cross!’ as an example of how you can punish other people’s children without smacking them.

• She has commented on my weight and told me I need to just eat in moderation. And told my partner in front of me that he has gotten fat since being with me even though he is the exact same weight as when we started dating.

• She steamrolled my partners birthday even though I was organising it. I just wanted something low key and easy and she ended up having me and my family in the kitchen with her for 2 hours during the party making dishes she wanted everyone try to. I eventually liked everyone out of the kitchen to go have fun and she got so angry at me about that.

• Since falling pregnant she has criticised how many ultrasounds I have had. I have had to get two extra ultrasounds on top of the normal schedule due to extreme abdominal pain. She said she never had any with her kids and I am exposing my baby to unnecessary radiation.

• She has criticised me for avoiding certain ‘risky foods’ such as soft cheese during pregnancy because when she was pregnant she ate everything and didn’t have any issues.

• She has criticised the way I look after my puppy. I didn’t give her a bone until her adult teeth came through and apparently I was wrong about that because ‘DOGS NEED BONES!!’ Even though my vet told me not to give her a bone until she had adult teeth.

• She criticised me for giving my dog kibble because ‘KIBBLE ISN’T FOUND IN NATURE’ even though we only give her a little bit of kibble with her home cooked foods so she had that extra crunch.

• Despite the fact that we have told her multiple times that our dog is in puppy school. She dropped off a pamphlet for a dog trainer and told me that my dog needed extra training because she is naughty and disobedient and has severe behavioural issues. But she really is the most beautiful dog and she is doing so well with her training. But she’s only 10 months and gets excited sometimes and might jump. But she will stop as soon as I tell her to.

• She has criticised how I store the utensils in my draw.

• She has said ‘Don’t you DARE give my grandchild an old lady name! You don’t want to be a horrible mother!’

• She has called me rude for needing to answer a phone call at the table even though I excused myself and said ‘I’m so sorry. I need to take this. My brother is in a bad way and needs me!’ Even though it was just a casual lunch and this woman was still in her pyjamas.

• She has tried to give me parenting advice even though she gave my partner and his brother (7 and 9-years-old at the time) steak knives and told them to ‘go outside and sort it out!’ when they had been fighting.

• Even though I am paying for my wedding myself, we were going to have it at my partners family farm. She has told me who I am allowed to invite to my wedding, which caterer I am allowed to use, I am not allowed to have children at the wedding, I can’t have it on that date because she’ll be too hot, she wants to contribute to the hire equipment but it’s too expensive so now we will have to have the reception in a hall!! The list goes on and on. We have told her not to worry about the expense because we are paying for it and then she went on to say she was disappointed we weren’t going to let her contribute just because she expressed her feelings.

• Then tonight, my partner was arranging a time to go out to the farm to talk to her and she asked if we wanted to stay for lunch. My partner said ‘I will but Simone won’t because she will have to get her niece and nephew home!’ And his mum responded with ‘Travelling in two cars. Signs of a happy relationship!’

By that point, I had had enough. These are just some of the things I’ve had to put up with from this woman in the last 3 years. Each thing on its own I could probably handle. But she is like an axe and I am the tree, with each swing she is making me weaker and weaker until I eventually fall and die. I am 24 weeks pregnant and should not be dealing with this kind of stress.

Don’t even get me started on the things she has done to my partners siblings and other people in the community. She is not a well-liked person at all.

My partner and I have decided that we will no longer be having the wedding at the farm even though it has been his childhood dream to do so. I have also made the decision to avoid contact with her unless completely necessary. I won’t be in the same room as her unless my partner is there. I won’t be talking to her or texting her at all. Anything she says to me I will simply respond with ‘Please talk to Luke about this.’