Hi Brooke,

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate your advice. I did as you suggested and did introduce myself etc. However I think my issue is more about my mother in law not accepting me. I want my mother in law to include me/ think of me as her family, be nicer to me. However I know and am totally learning that you cannot change anyone, and there is absolutely no point wasting your energy. So is the best advice just to accept that she doesn’t like me and that is okay? How do you act around someone you have to see who doesn’t like you? It doesn’t make me want to see her.

Do I coach myself, saying things like:
I do not need her approval, she can behave and act in any way she chooses and I am not going to let it affect me, she does not have to include me. I am good enough just as I am and I don’t need her approval, she gets to be whoever she wants to be.

I feel more distant from her then and don’t really feel like making an effort to see her etc.
Thanks xx