OMG.... my crumb squares are PIA!!! My MIL cleaned up my sewing area and now they are gone............ If she threw them out, I am going to beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee very pppppppppppppppd... Why can't she leave me stuff alone...... ARGH

Yikes!!! I would run if I was her.

sounds like something my hubby would do,..... to help me!

oh oh ooooooooh!

Guess she was just cleaning up the crumbs you left behind!! :)

Oh dear!

MIL ..... how fast can you run?

Why was she doing that?

Oh my that's something DH would do to me! I hope you find them, that would make me an unhappy camper too.

Maybe she was just trying to help.

LOL. My MIL (bless her heart) when she visits she likes to help "clean" my house.

She hates how cluttered it is and will (if not roped in) go getting rid of anything and everything that I don't "need"

One of the last times she was here she "helped" the kids clean their rooms.
I just smile and remember she is only here for 3 days......

However if you need more scraps I will be more than happy to send you some!

oh thank you! I have plenty but She needs to stay out of my area!!!!! but I can't say a word or I am the nasty one........ I am stewing....... gonna tear apart the house tonight again and hopefully I will find them in a spot that i have not looked...

My grandmother-in-law visited us shortly after we got married in the late 1960's. She worked all day one day scraping the "black stuff" out of our new pots and pans. It was the teflon coating! We just said thank you and used them for years.

Perhaps she tidied them up and put them away?
Though I am now picturing you going thru the trash!!! :)

Looks like CloverPatch is your SIL!

Oh dear!
so much for that new fan-dangled cookware!

Similiar to the time my sister was helping to provide post-op care for her MIL and polished the brass patina from a 1872 armoire. Oops.

My mother always had a saying "The path to hell was paved with good intentions" sounds like a lot of that going around.

countless times i have dug through garbage bags!

OMG

Was that a "southern style" "bless her heart"?

Did you ask her if she saw them and what she might have done with them if she did see them? You had better ask while you are in a different room, that way if she did throw them out it will give you time to "cool off" before you can reach out and strangle her. LOL

I plan on calling her and asking her... I am very bad with my facial expressions!

[quote=girliegirl]oh thank you! I have plenty but She needs to stay out of my area!!!!! but I can't say a word or I am the nasty one........ I am stewing....... gonna tear apart the house tonight again and hopefully I will find them in a spot that i have not looked...


Check the garbage quick!

Why was she in your stuff? Is your stuff out in the open or in a separate room? I don't understand why anyone would get into other people's business, family or not. Now you said that you don't say anything because you'd be the nasty one. I think you really need to set boundaries. Had to do it with my MIL. We get along famously now because she knows how far she can go with me and where she better not tread.

Hope you find your crumbs.

Want me to come over and set her straight?

Good luck!

yeah come over and have some tea! ( get her girl ) !!

Do you have a lock on your room? I don't have anyone to come over and do anything and sometimes I think I would like it but now I'm not so sure! YIKES!

She comes over to babysit everyday and plays maid while she is here so she can snoop at my stuff and it is getting old... but I must not say anything to her... so until I become the perfect wife and neat freak I need to keep my mouth shut.. whatever... oh did i just say that out loud?

Sounds like a "No Trespassing" sign needs to be hung up there. Don't have to say anything, just hang the sign.

Maybe you need a new babysitter?

I sure hope you have found your crumbs--my MIL wasn't that way but my mom was and it was just to put me down and be nosey--once we lived 18 miles from town and 63 miles from a big grocery store out on a ranch-welll my mom, dad and a couple of my sisters were coming to stay a few days-so I had cooked up alot of food and had ref. full. I was gone all afternoon due to I did all the kids school parties and when I got back my mom had cleaned my ref and thrown most of the food out to my chickens!!!!! Lucky for her I had a deep freeze--to this day I get steamed up thinking about it!

I can't imagine anyone taking it upon themselves to go through someone else's stuff....

Oh yes, I have a mother like that. I remember the first 'incident'--the night before my wedding. DH and I had gone to the church for the rehearsal along with the best man and bride's maid (VERY small wedding) and did not invite my mother to join us. When we got back to my place she had 'cleaned' my apartment--the same apartment that I slaved over for 2 days before she arrived. AND she expected to be thanked!!

Go thru the garbage. Then get yourself a chest or cupboard that locks and use it! And I really like the 'No Tresspassing' sign idea.

This is not right. Have you asked her not to clean your space? If you have, do it again very firmly. It is not fair for you to be so upset in your own home. You are the woman in your house and MIL should not intrude and if she can't listen nicely, then she is asking for it....hold your ground girl and speak up! and don't care who thinks what....

So far I guess I am lucky in that NOBODY trusts
messing around in or near my desk or sewing room.

Although my hubs and youngest daughter use to always
put stuff in my sewing room until I told them the next
time they did that I was going to start putting junk in
their areas. That my desk and sewing room was completely
off limits to them regardless of what they might think.

I fear that if ANYONE came into my home and messed in
my fabric or sewing rooms they would end up on the very
|short end of my temper.

No I am NOT a nice person when you mess with my stuff.
Even my own mother never did that.

That door needs a lock! You don't need to say a word; just lock the door.
What is in your sewing room, desk, dresser is no one else's business and if DH won't say anything because it's "easier not to", put locks on your private area. This is ridiculous

Maybe shes bored and trying to keep busy while trying to help you. Have you tried to ask her if she would mind getting a meal ready, making cookies, doing the laundry or maybe try to get her involved in quilting - ask if she wouldn't mind cutting a quilt up for you for starters(show her how if she doesn't know how). Explain how not to throw away scraps as those can even go into a quilt. Maybe find some scrappy quilts on here to show her and some that even use the edge. When you're at somebody's house babysitting you can get bored very easily with nothing to do. Give her something to do and/or talk to her about bringing something she enjoys doing(if she doesn't want to learn quilting). Tell her you know she means well and you appreciate having a trust worthy person and someone who loves your child(ren)watching over them but anything in your house could have a purpose and you would appreciate it if she would ask you before tossing or putting anything away unless she or the kids get it out while she is there.

Good luck and hope everything works out.

Are you paying her to come and babysit every day?

How old is your child?

How old is your MIL?

Have you ever considered that babysitting every day at her age may not have been in her plans?

(Not all grandparents live and breathe for the opportunity to take care of grandchildren on a regular basis.)

I do agree that the only person that should be messing with your stuff is you -

Oh my goodness, I had to laugh at this one!! ;)

Amen to that! someone from DH's family (not MIL)tried that once and believe me all H+++ broke loose when i came home and found out. Never happened again.

Hm, I am having devious thoughts. (Funny, but those seem to happen more and more) Can you go to her house and return the favor (just pretend of course)? Is there anything she is fond of that you could move around or misplace?

I truely understand where you are coming from. my DMIL lived with me for 37 years and While I was at work she would do her thing and it was always "Just trying to help". I really don't accept this excuse. We should all respect each others space and not intrude. She had the whole house to do her thing in but just had to do it in my little sewing room too. And she never knew what I was talking about when I had to ask her where she put something. I replaced so many things over the years because I just could not find stuff after her helping out.

She is not of this world anymore and I wonder if god is missing anything!

I always used to ask her if she would like it if I rearranged her bedroom dresser drawers every week and threw out her crossword puzzle books.

My DH follows her lead and I can never find anything in my own house but it does keep him close!

Just look at all the trouble Neat freaks cause!

If all the mothers out there could teach their kids one thing it would be to respect other peoples stuff and space. They will get along with their future partners much better!
:-D
peace

ube quilting, I just cracked up reading your post. I was getting kind of frustrated and cranky, reading about people coming in and "rearranging" one's possessions, until I came to your post. Thanks for lightening up my evening.