My husband and I have been married for 5 years. My mother-in-law has always been a high source of anxiety for me. She is one of those people who has rose colored glasses on and always dismisses difficult, challenging or negative ideas. I allow her to cause anxiety for me, because I take her words as the truth. In addition, I feel like I want her to know how I feel about what she says but am afraid of the consequences: hurting her feelings or angering my husband. By not allowing myself to be myself and express my feelings openly, I find I build up resentment towards her. In addition, she is extremely unhelpful when she comes to visit, she sits most of the day and talks about inconsequential nothingness as I feel extremely overwhelmed by my job, my kids and trying to keep my house in order. Overall her visits are very stressful, she is coming tonight for 10 days and I am getting anxious.
Thanks in advance.