I posted about this around a year ago when I was pregnant. My MIL is an alcoholic, she has been since my husband was a child (hes now 32). He’s always tried to help her and support her, but sometimes it gets too much.

She made my life hell when I was pregnant. She drinks and drinks and gets herself into absolute states, then rings my husband shouting and swearing at him and demanding he goes to her house to help her otherwise she will kill herself etc etc. The amount of times when I was pregnant she would do this. There were times I would drive to go and help her as well, we’d get to her house and she’d be on the floor injured and unable to get back up, covered in vomit etc. I got to a point when I was pregnant where I said enough was enough and if she doesnt sort herself out she wont be seeing her grandchild when she was born.

Thing is when she’s sober, shes the nicest most kindest sweetest woman on the planet. Which I think is why my husband finds it so hard to cut her off. She never remembers what happens when she drinks and “blacks out” so doesnt remember how horrible she is when drunk. If my husband doesnt go to her, she’ll start manipulating him and saying he doesnt love or care for her then, he is leaving her to die blah blah blah. I can see how manupulative she is, and my husband can as well but he falls for it each time because its his mum. When sober shes so apologetic, she cries and says she knows shes got a problem, shes depressed because she lives alone and thats why she drinks, she cant stop. We’ve tried to get her help, we’ve tried hospital and counselling and rehabs etc, she’ll say she’ll take the help, but then go to these things once and then not go again.

When my baby was born, she did actually go on a detox and counselling and stopped drinking for a few months and would regulary see the baby and we thought that was her turning point. But then she started drinking again, she would go quiet for weeks without contacting us or seeing the baby, because she was drinking. Then she’d get help and we would see her again. Then she’d go quiet again for a few weeks. This cycle has been ongoing since the baby was 3 months old. Every now and again we get a random phone call to say she’s in hospital, can my husband go and get her?

So when she drinks now, she no longer calls us to help her as my husband made it clear that wasnt to happen anymore now we have a baby to look after. So she calls herself an ambulance instead, will spend a night in the hospital verbally abusing all the nurses, then when sober calls us to go and get her.

We havent seen her for a good couple of months now, but she wanted to meet up for lunch today. (This was planned last week).

We were just getting ready and getting the baby ready (shes 10 months old now), to go and meet her for lunch as she confirmed again yesterday she would be there today. And we get a phone call from her, can we go pick her up from hospital because she started drinking last night and ended up there to sober up in the night.

My husbands gone to get her. But I’m furious. We havent seen her for ages, and now the day she was meant to come see her grand daughter in the first time in ages, shes done this again.

Like at what point do i say enough is enough. I would have cut her off ages ago, but my husband is so kind natured he just cant do it to his mum. But we’ve spent the whole first year of my babies life with her popping up every month or 2 wanting to see her when shes sober, then she goes back to drinking and disapearing again. When she sees the baby she is sober and is so sweet with her, so my husband doesnt see it as harming the baby as she doesnt know. But I’m at the point where I’m like… I have to protect my child from this now. I want to cut her off completely 😭